Over €40,000 worth of shellfish - mainly lobster, has been stolen from a local business in recent weeks.
Ronan Forde of Mayo Seafood Ltd. told WLR that €30,000 worth of lobster and crawfish was stolen from a truck at the weekend.
This is the second time such an incident has occurred, with €10,000 worth of the same fish stolen earlier this year.
Ronan, who is based in Waterford Airport Business Park says they have no idea how entry was gained to the truck.
“They were left in the trailer, waiting to get some tanks prepared actually. Someone had to have known what they were doing. They went into the trailer, valves had to be turned off and on. The water was drained out to retrieve the lobsters out of the tanks. We don’t know how they actually gained entry into it. We’re still trying to find out how they got the doors open.”
With his business being the victim of robbery three times in 2022 alone, Ronan says it could close him down.
“It’s a substantial loss for the company. A massive loss. This could close my business down. It’s been a hard few days. It’s just a dreadful experience all round.”
Ronan reflected on the incident which occurred two months ago, where there was a break in to his factory - and he says a suspect has been identified in relation to a smaller incident which occurred beforehand.
“There was a break in to the factory going two months back as well. My front door was kicked in. There was nearly €10,000 worth of lobsters taken out of the tanks, and crayfish as well. We haven’t got to the bottom of that yet either. A week previous, we had a couple of frozen lobsters taken from our freezers in the factory as well. There is a line of enquiry being followed there. There is a suspect for that.”
Ronan says that Gardaí are currently investigating the incidents and he has pleaded with any restaurants who may have bought lobster or crawfish recently to get in touch with him or Tramore Garda Station.
“They are reviewing CCTV from the Business Park at the moment. There’s quite a few businesses that have offered their CCTV as well. We are hoping for a positive result and I think we will get one.”
Anyone with any information is asked to contact Tramore Garda Station on (051) 391 260.
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