Thieves steal 63,000 pounds of bait fish

LINDEN, N.J., April 9 (UPI) -- Thieves have stolen more than 63,000 pounds of bait fish from a trucking business in Linden, N.J., the firm's owner says.

XTL Transportation owner Chris Milanes said the fish and the refrigerated container it was being stored in were stolen from early Wednesday morning and he suspects the incident was an inside job, The (Newark) New Jersey Star-Ledger said.

"It's not an open site," Milanes, 21, said. "We're all the way in the back. Nobody can see what we've got unless you work here."

Police said the thieves also broke the locks on two additional containers during the theft, but did not steal any of the furniture and sundry items being stored inside the trailers.

Milanes said the thieves would have needed to know the combination to the lock used to secure his lot, adding a tractor would have to be used to move the stolen trailer.

The business owner told the Star-Ledger the stolen fish were worth nearly $130,000, and were uninsured. The fish were all Menhaden, a oily fish not fit for consumption by humans.