Summary: Thieves steal $43,000 of French Comté cheese to resell on the black market.
In France, they take their fromage seriously. The latest drama? Eater reported that thieves stole over 8,818 lbs of Comté cheese from a French dairy this week. As if that doesn’t seem crazy enough, this cheese is worth over $43,000 on the black market (yes, there is a black market for cheese).
Made in Goux-les-Usiers, Comté is a hard, aged cheese, similar to traditional Gruyere. The Telegraph posits that this much cheese is probably intended for sale in places outside of France. But how will authorities find these stinky, stinky cheese bandits? No one is quite sure.
Traditionally, food-related crimes are focused on alcohol, which is always sellable and has a high mark-up. Wine, especially, is frequently targeted, including a $56,000 Chablis heist in the past year.
Perhaps these enterprising cheese thieves should get together with guys who engineered the wine heist? They could throw a fantastic wine-and-cheese hour.
Source:
http://www.eater.com/2015/11/6/9680970/french-cheese-stolen-theft-comte
Photo Cred:
www.frenchcheeseclub.com