Nearly 40,000 pounds of Pabst Brewing Company beer went missing from a distribution center in California two weeks ago. Now, investigators are searching for clues while the brand offers amnesty.
The Montclair Police Department posted on its Facebook page that two cargo thefts occurred August 17 at a local Anheuser-Busch distribution center. The first occurred around 10 a.m., when an unspecified shipment worth about $45,000 was picked up for delivery but never arrived at its intended destination in Tucson, Ariz. The second incident, which involved approximately $25,000 worth of Pabst Blue Ribbon, occurred about an hour later. According to the department, a purported subcontracting company used fraudulent paperwork to arrange the PBR pickup.
Officials said investigators identified similarities between the two incidents and will work to determine if they are part of the same operation. The New York Times reported that the police department said no trucks were stolen, only the cargo.
PBR posted to Instagram an inventory of the stolen items, which included over 1,400 cases of PBR and nearly 200 cases of Old Milwaukee NA. The post also left a message to the perpetrators: “To the thief: we don’t fault you for wanting to brag to your friends how much PBR you have, we just wish you obtained it the honorable way.”
PBR added that they could return the beer by September 8 “no questions asked.” It also offered a reward to anyone who could help solve the mystery and closed with, “P.s. this is real and we are deadly serious.”
The Times cited a report from supply chain monitoring group Overhaul, which recorded 605 instances of cargo theft in the U.S. during the second quarter of this year. The publication also referenced theft prevention firm CargoNet, which reported that cargo theft losses nationwide totaled about $725 million in 2025, a 60% increase from 2024.
