A shipment of lobster worth about $400,000 was stolen while en route to Costco stores in the US states of Illinois and Minnesota, according to the president of the freight company handling the delivery.

Dylan Rexing, president and chief executive of supply chain firm Rexing Companies, said in a statement on Saturday that the driver is believed to have impersonated a legitimate carrier before stealing the shipment.

The lobsters, which were not alive, were being transported to Costco locations in Illinois and Minnesota, Rexing said.

NBC News reported that authorities are investigating the incident, while the freight company continues to review how the impersonation occurred.

“This theft wasn’t random,” Rexing said. “It followed a pattern we’re seeing more and more, where criminals impersonate legitimate carriers using spoofed emails and burner phones to hijack high-value freight while it’s in transit.”

“For a mid-sized brokerage like ours, a $400,000 loss is significant,” he added, saying such losses compel difficult decisions and push costs higher across the supply chain — expenses that consumers ultimately bear.

Costco did not immediately return a request for comment, NBC News reported.

“Brokers are on the front lines of this problem, but we need federal agencies to have modern enforcement tools to keep pace with organized criminal networks,” he said, warning that “until that happens, these thefts will continue to disrupt businesses and impact everyday prices.”