Criminals in the U.K. have set a new standard for audacity.
Authorities in Britain are working to recover a staggering 70,000 pints of pilfered Guinness.
Two truckloads of the iconic dark brew, valued at £115,000 (approximately $216,000 CAD), were taken from a storage facility near Liverpool in northwest England, according to the Cheshire Constabulary on Thursday.
“It is often said that ‘Guinness is good for you,’ but that holds true only when it has been properly purchased,” remarked Det. Sgt. Gary McClatchy. “We will accept nothing short of recovering all the stolen goods in full.”
This incident follows a recent beer theft in the United States that gained attention due to the humorous social media responses from the brewery regarding the loss of about 34,000 cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon.
The stolen Guinness was intended for local pubs, but on Monday night, two drivers arrived at an industrial area in Runcorn and drove off with the trailers carrying roughly 800 barrels of stout.
The estimated worth of the trailers was around £50,000 ($93,000 CAD).
In a similar incident, authorities assessed the value of the Pabst theft from a warehouse in Southern California at $70,000 USD ($97,000 CAD), and the company has offered a reward of $20,000 USD for tips leading to the return of the stolen beer.
The brewery responded on social media.
“To the thief: we understand your desire to impress your friends with how much PBR you possess, but we wish you had acquired it the right way,” the company posted on Instagram. “P.S. This is serious, and we mean it.”