Crime Chronicles: The Great Maple Syrup Heist

Welcome back to Crime Chronicles! So far, we’ve had body snatchers, nurses, nobles, and a couple of really nasty serial killers. Considering the brutal assault on the psyche that was the previous entry, I think it’s time we cover a different crime; one that’s perhaps more…amusing. How about a heist story? Just for something different? How is a heist funny? Well…it’s not so much the crime itself as it is the bounty.

Usually, when you think of a heist, you think of money, gold, jewellery and stuff like that. You don’t think of culinary condiments. That said, one particular condiment was the prime target for a group of thieves between 2011 and 2012. Since the thieves were Canadian, I’ll give you one guess, what do you think their target was?

This is the weird and wonderful investigation into the Great Maple Syrup Heist!

A Sweet, Sweet Market

Okay, so to understand how this whole thing started we actually need to go back a few years…well, a lot of years, actually - to 1958.

In 1958, a group of maple syrup producers put together a plan to market and/or sell the sweet Canadian treasure. That plan led to the establishment of a larger setup in 1966. That plan spread throughout Quebec and led to the creation of the Federation of Maple Syrup Producers of Quebec. The name was changed in 2018 to Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.

Now, here’s the interesting part, the federation has a monopoly on maple syrup sales. No, that’s not a joke.

Between 1989 and 2003, the federation expanded it’s influence to the point of becoming something of a cartel. This isn’t really surprising, considering that the federation has sole authority over price-setting and production quotas. Why? Because, the federation has first dibs on all maple syrup produced in Quebec. The federation established the ISR (International Strategic Reserve) to store extra syrup. Producers were charged 25% of their crops which helped to stabilize a rather unstable market.

2006 saw the theft of a thousand barrels worth 1.3 million Canadian dollars from a federation warehouse. That theft was never solved, thankfully, however, the insurance company covered the damages.

By 2008, the reservoir had been emptied due to bad weather affecting the crops. At the time, the federation controlled around 8,000 producers and their policing of production quotas was, to put it lightly, strict. That strictness was heavily criticized and the punishments for quota violations would result in steep fines of $500k Canadian and more.

When protests broke out in 2010, the federation placed guards at storage facilities and would sometimes confiscate crops - I didn’t even know they had that authority. 2011 saw a really, really good year. In fact, it was such a good year that the federation leased a new facility for a while. Of course, this new facility had practically no security on it, and that little issue caused quite a problem…for the federation.

Stolen Syrup…

In July of 2012, officials from the organization were doing an inventory of the barrels. The barrels were supposed to weigh in at around 600 pounds (270kg). The inspector, Michael Gavreau, however, found several of them empty - and almost got seriously injured in the process. Apparently, he was climbing the barrels at the time of the discovery…seriously, why wouldn’t you just use a ladder or one of those construction vehicles to get a good idea of how many barrels you have?

The investigation uncovered that over several months between 2011 and 2012, the contents of a little over 9,500 barrels had been stolen. The total value of the missing syrup? Around $18.7 million Canadian. It was considered to be an inside job because the thieves seemed to know exactly how everything worked.

The syrup was stored in plain white barrels, and the inspections only ever happened once a year. The thieves would take barrels of syrup to a remote sugar shack - which I’m guessing is like a speakeasy of sorts where the maple sap was harvested. They would siphon syrup from the barrels, replace the syrup with water and return the barrels to the facility. Of course, as you’d expect, the thieves got cocky enough that eventually, they were stealing directly from the reserve without bothering to replace what was taken.

The stolen syrup was taken to Vermont and New Brunswick, where law enforcement would later recover hundreds of stolen barrels.

The Arrests

17 men were arrested between the 18th and 20th of December. Some of the men involved were:

• Richard Vallieres
• Raymond Vallieres
• Etienne St-Pierre
• Avik Caron
• Sebastien Jutras

Richard Vallieres was the accused ringleader and was sentenced to eight years in prison and a fine of $9.4 million. The sentence would be extended by 14 years if said fine wasn’t paid. The fine was later ruled unconstitutional by the Quebec Court of Appeal and they reduced it to $1 million. The Supreme Court of Canada later overruled that decision in 2022 and reinstated the original fine…ouch.

Richard’s father, Raymond, was convicted of possession and sentenced to two years minus a day, and three years of probation.

Etienne St-Pierre was a reseller who got the same sentence as Raymond Vallieres in addition to an $850,000 fine.

Avik Caron was the inside man, he was sentenced to five years in prison and a $1.2 million fine.

Sebastien Jutra was the trucker who helped transport the stolen goods. He got eight months in prison.

This is One of the Funniest Things I’ve Ever Read!

Of all the crime stories I’ve written, this is genuinely the funniest things I’ve ever read! The idea that a group of thieves would go after syrup is just so ridiculous that I can’t help laughing! I mean, come on, a typical heist is usually money, right? Why would you go after syrup?!

Looking at the harsh sentences meted out, I guess the message was sent: never, NEVER, ever mess with a Canadian’s maple syrup.