JBS Grand Island Beef Plant Reports Theft of Trailer of Beef

March 31, 2023

About $275,000 worth of beef headed to Virginia never arrived, and the truck’s GPS tracker was disabled.

Reports out of Grand Island, Neb., say local police are investigating the theft of a semi-trailer full of beef from the JBS beef plant in town earlier this week.

Approximately $275,000 worth of beef was loaded in the trailer that did not reach its planned destination in Virginia, according to authorities. The meat was picked up by the driver of a subcontractor trucking company on March 20, but the GPS tracker was cut afterward and the shipment has not yet been found.

The trucking company is cooperating with authorities, who relay that the current situation does not appear to be related to the rash of highly sophisticated, organized meat shipment thefts in 2021-2022 throughout the Great Plains and Midwest. Three arrests were made in Florida in late 2022 in connection with 45 thefts of meat shipments totaling approximately $9 million.

About the Author

Andy Hanacek | Senior Editor

Andy Hanacek has covered meat, poultry, bakery and snack foods as a B2B editor for nearly 20 years, and has toured hundreds of processing plants and food companies, sharing stories of innovation and technological advancement throughout the food supply chain. In 2018, he won a Folio:Eddie Award for his unique "From the Editor's Desk" video blogs, and he has brought home additional awards from Folio and ASBPE over the years. In addition, Hanacek led the Meat Industry Hall of Fame for several years and was vice president of communications for We R Food Safety, a food safety software and consulting company.