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Suspected tequila thieves busted in Hillsborough County

WPTV-HILLSBOROUGH-STOLEN-TEQUILA.jpg
Posted at 1:31 PM, Dec 31, 2018
and last updated 2019-01-01 06:06:23-05

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Sheriff's deputies in Florida have recovered a half-million dollars in stolen Patron tequila.

Hillsborough Sheriff's spokesman Danny Alvarez said in a news release that on Sunday night a truck driver hauling the load of tequila had stopped for dinner at the Tampa Truck Stop when he noticed the trailer was no longer attached to his truck.

Deputies began searching and found the semi-trailer at a nearby intersection, where they watched four men transferring the cases of tequila to another box truck.

Alvarez says that before the deputies moved in, the men had transferred over 20 cases from the fully-loaded truck.

They arrested three men at the scene. The fourth fled, but was arrested a short time later.

Alvarez says the load of tequila was worth $507,105.