Thoughts From a "Lost Canadian" About The Great Maple Syrup Heist

Living in the USA I do remember hearing a little about The Great Maple Syrup Heist in Canada, but it was not a "big" news "event", so since I've learned my own ancestors were people who made Maple Syrup in Canada for generations, and since I've learned I'm a "Lost Canadian", and I want to learn about Canada, I thought I'd learn about The Great Maple Syrup Heist. Online I learned . . . 

• In 2012, Quebec lost 3,000 tons of maple syrup—worth a massive $18 million CAD—in what was called the "OPEC of maple syrup". 
• The Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist (2011–2012) was the largest agricultural theft in Canadian history. Thieves siphoned $18.7 million CAD worth of syrup from a heavily guarded reserve in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec, replacing it with water to avoid immediate detection.
• The massive theft targeted a reserve managed by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers (FPAQ), often described as a state-sanctioned cartel which controls the global price and supply of maple syrup.
• Over several months, mastermind Richard Vallières and his team rented space in the same warehouse where the FPAQ stashed its surplus inventory. They emptied thousands of 600-pound barrels of their golden contents and refilled them with water.
• The missing syrup was discovered in 2012 during a routine audit, when an accountant found the barrels were deceptively light and hollow sounding.
• Police launched a massive investigation, tracing the stolen syrup to a distribution network which stretched into New Brunswick and across North America. Vallières and other individuals involved were eventually arrested, convicted, and sentenced to prison.
• This outrageously sticky crime has since inspired books and pop culture, including the dark comedy television series The Sticky and an episode of the Netflix documentary series Dirty Money.
• The Indigenous peoples of the Eastern Woodlands, including the Abenaki, Haudenosaunee and Mi’kmaq, harvested maple sap before the arrival of European settlers. French settlers learned how to tap maple trees and reduce sap into maple syrup from Indigenous peoples. Quebec has since produced maple syrup and other derivative products, so much so that maple syrup and gatherings at the ‘sugar shack’ (or cabane à sucre in French) are cornerstones of Québécois cuisine and culture.
• Quebec is a major producer of maple syrup and maple products. In 2020, Quebec contributed 96.4 per cent of Canadian maple product exports. Canada is a leading producer and exporter of maple products, accounting for 75 per cent of the global market.

I am so surprised to learn the details of The Great Maple Syrup Heist. Clearly this is something every Canadian - including those of us who are "Lost Canadians" should know! 

You will find all the details of the Great Maple Syrup Heist, how it was discovered, and how they caught the sticky thieves at this link.