Thieves Break into Spirits Factory, Steal Tank of Water Instead of Vodka

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A large iceberg floats in the Atlantic Ocean, April 26, 2017 off the coast of Ferryland, Newfoundland, Canada. Criminals broke into a vodka warehouse in Port Union, Newfoundland, and stole 30,000 liters of iceberg water. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Police in Newfoundland, Canada, are on the hunt for thieves who broke into the premises of a vodka company and made off with 30,000 liters of iceberg water.

Staff at Iceberg Vodka arrived at work on Monday morning to find one of the 10 tanks of water in its warehouse had been drained of the precious liquid, enough to fill 150,000 vodka bottles, The Ottawa Citizen reported.

CEO David Meyers said the H2O heist required inside knowledge and access to the warehouse, as well as the right equipment. "We're talking about a significant amount of water here. Who would want it and what would they do with it? I mean, we're scratching our head, I have to say. I've never even considered the possibility of somebody stealing our water… I guess we live in an interesting world."

The water is harvested from 15,000-year-old icebergs off the Newfoundland coast by a crew that goes on an annual trip in a 260-foot boat in late spring.

"Think about a grape harvest to make wine, you only have one crack at it a year. It's the same thing with icebergs," Meyers said, adding that because the heist occurred close to spring, the shortfall can be made up in this year's harvest.

The stolen water was worth up to 12,000 Canadian dollars ($9,000) and was insured. Meyer said the building was padlocked as was the gate outside. He told local radio station VOCM that it would have required "guts and stupidity" to carry out the heist with a large tanker truck, and would have been more complicated if they had used a smaller tanker truck making several trips.

When asked if the thieves mistook the water for the stronger liquid, he told CBC: "If they did, they're going to be thinking that vodka is pretty weak. I'd be surprised, but who knows what people are thinking when they come in and take something like that?"

Police are calling for information, and have interviewed each worker at the warehouse, which has been dusted for fingerprints.

Iceberg Vodka CEO baffled by bizarre heist of ancient water https://t.co/W4oUdIoIpY pic.twitter.com/1iVPJszTBO

— Text for Credit (TM) (@TextforCredit) February 15, 2019

Other companies in the area also have licenses to tap into the iceberg water, such as a local brewery and a cosmetics firm.

It is not the most unusual industrial theft in Canada recently. Over Christmas, 1,200 pounds of lobster were taken from open pens in Port Medway, Nova Scotia, Bay Today reported.

In 2017, police in Hamilton, Ontario, said a "blueberry bandit" stole a trailer of CAD$100,000 ($75,000) worth of berries and fruit.

More than 2,700 tonnes of maple syrup worth CAD$18 million ($13.5 million) were stolen from a warehouse in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec between 2011 and 2012, the publication stated.

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Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular ... Read more

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