Pair of teens busted in Jersey for allegedly trying to steal $273K of frozen seafood

An apparently hungry pair were busted in New Jersey for allegedly trying to steal nearly 29,000 pounds of frozen seafood worth more than $273,000 – but their scheme quickly went belly-up.Jonathan Pollaguari, 18, of the Bronx, New York, and an unidentified juvenile were caught October 3 unloading pallets of frozen shrimp, salmon, conch meat and branzino from a refrigerated tractor-trailer into a 26-foot box truck in North Arlington, police said in a Facebook news release.Officers responded to Porete Avenue after receiving a report of suspicious activity involving a cargo transfer and discovered the pair moving the seafood between vehicles.The scheme allegedly involved someone posing as a representative of the freight broker handling the shipment, police said. The tractor-trailer driver received a series of calls and text messages telling him to reroute some of the seafood to North Arlington, where it would be loaded onto another truck.The driver followed the instructions, but something didn’t seem right as the seafood was being unloaded. An investigation revealed the person giving the directions had no connection to the legitimate freight broker and was allegedly posing as a company representative to steal the cargo.An 18-year-old Bronx man and a juvenile were arrested for allegedly unloading frozen shrimp, salmon and other seafood from a refrigerated tractor-trailer into a 26-foot box truck in North Arlington, New Jersey (iStock)Police intervened before the cargo could be removed from the area, stopping the transfer and recovering the seafood, which was valued at more than $273,000. The alleged thieves were left out of luck.Pollaguari and the juvenile were taken into custody without incident, police said.“Our officers did an outstanding job identifying what was taking place and stopping this theft before more than $273,000 worth of merchandise could be stolen. This case highlights the hard work and dedication of our officers and their ability to quickly investigate a complex situation,” North Arlington Police Captain David Hudak said in a statement. Pollaguari faces second-degree charges of theft by deception, false representation and conspiracy, as well as a first-degree charge of employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime. He also received motor vehicle summonses for driving without a license, failing to possess an insurance card, and operating an uninsured vehicle.Charges against the juvenile have not been publicly revealed.