Man Steals Shrimp from Woodbridge Warehouse, Police Say

Woodbridge, NJ - On Tuesday, NJ State Police stopped a man on the New Jersey Turnpike for a traffic violation, but later discovered he was wanted for stealing shrimp — yes, $300,000 worth of frozen shrimp from a food distribution plant in Woodbridge.

And believe it or not, shrimp theft is not uncommon, State Police Sgt. Jeff Flynn told Patch.

"We've had about four frozen shrimp thefts in the past year or so," he said, most of them in South Jersey. "Mostly from supermarkets, where people are caught on camera stealing $500 or so of frozen shrimp."

They re-sell the shrimp to people they know or restaurants, he said. Another food item commonly stolen is high-end cheeses, he said.

"People are going to think we have some kind of shrimp obsession, but we've come across several of these cases over the past few years," Flynn said.

At 6:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Trooper Mohamed “Mo” Hussein pulled over a truck driven by Emilce Rodriguez-Aguilar, 51, in Cranbury Township for a traffic violation.

The trooper learned that Rodriguez-Aguilar had an outstanding criminal warrant out of South Plainfield, and he was arrested.

But further investigation revealed that Rodriguez-Aguilar was also wanted for stealing a cargo of shrimp valued at $300,000 from Preferred Freezer in Woodbridge. On November 20, 2015, Rodriguez-Aguilar picked up the shrimp from the plant, with a valid pickup order number, but never delivered it to its intended destination, State Police said.

What he did with the shrimp is being investigated, Flynn said.

He was held at the Middlesex County Jail in lieu of $75,000 cash-only bail. The case is being investigated by the NJSP Interstate Theft North Unit.