$75K Worth of Stolen Spices at Aberdeen Storage Unit, Prosecutors Say

Aberdeen, NJ - These two guys are facing hard thyme.

Two men was arrested Feb. 18 in the Cliffwood section of Aberdeen Township for operating an alleged stolen spice ring, Monmouth County prosecutors and the New Jersey State Police said.

Samir Helou, 57, of Brooklyn, and Luis Rivera, 50, of Jersey City kept 524 cases of Shan spices in a Cliffwood storage facility, State Police said. Each box contained 144 smaller boxes. The stolen spices in total were worth $75,456, Monmouth County prosecutors said.

The spices had been stolen from Best Foods, a food supplier warehouse in Edison, prosecutors said.

The State Police were tracking a tractor trailer that had been reported stolen from Edison, state police said. The truck made a stop at the Cliffwood storage facility, and the two men appeared there an hour later, State Police said.