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United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

02/05/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 02/05/2026 11:35

New York Man Charged in Multi-State Organized Cargo-Theft Conspiracy

Press Release

New York Man Charged in Multi-State Organized Cargo-Theft Conspiracy

Thursday, February 5, 2026
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts
Defendant allegedly stole cargo containing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of snow crabs, blueberries and cologne

BOSTON - A New York man has been arrested and charged for allegedly conspiring to infiltrate email accounts of legitimate truck-load carriers, using the hacked accounts to book cargo with shippers and selling the items for illicit profit. The goods allegedly stolen include over 33,000 pounds of frozen snow crab, pallets of blueberries and more than $400,000 of designer cologne.

Romoy Forbes, 31, a Jamaican national living in Deer Park, N.Y., has been charged with interstate transportation of stolen goods, and conspiracy to commit that offense. Forbes was arrested today in Long Island, N.Y. and will make his initial appearance in the Eastern District of New York. He will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date.

According to the charging documents, on July 15, 2025, Forbes allegedly stole 33,750 pounds of frozen snow crabs worth $325,000 from a warehouse that held the goods in Worcester, Mass. Leading up to the theft, a co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of a trucking carrier company (Carrier 1). The co-conspirator, pretending to work for Carrier 1, and using the email account of Carrier 1, allegedly contacted and contracted with Shipper 1, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Jacksonville, Fla. Forbes then allegedly arrived at the warehouse in Worcester pretending to work for Carrier 1, loaded the seafood into his truck and drove off.

Instead of delivering the seafood to the customer in Florida, Forbes allegedly transported it to the location of a grocery store business in Queens, N.Y., where Forbes took a picture of the pallets of packaged crabs with his cellphone.

Before the alleged seafood heist, Forbes, on June 25, 2025, allegedly stole a shipment of blueberries in Winslow Junction, N.J. A co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of Carrier 2, a trucking carrier company, and, pretending to be Carrier 2, contacted and contracted with Shipper 2, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Illinois. Forbes then allegedly arrived at the warehouse that was holding the goods, and, pretending to work for Carrier 2, loaded the fruit into his truck and drove away.

Instead of delivering the blueberries to the customer in Illinois, Forbes allegedly arranged to illicitly sell the fruit to his phone contact named, "My customer for everything."

After the seafood and blueberry thefts, on July 25, 2025, Forbes allegedly conspired to steal approximately $433,830 worth of cologne in Ronkonkama, N.Y. Again, a co-conspirator allegedly hacked into the email account of Carrier 3, a trucking carrier company, and, pretending to be Carrier 3, contracted with Shipper 3, a transportation business, to ship the goods to a customer in Los Angeles, Calif. Forbes then allegedly arrived to the warehouse that was holding the goods, and, pretending to work for Carrier 3, loaded the items into his truck and drove away.

Instead of delivering the fragrances to the customer in California, Forbes allegedly contacted his "customer for everything" offering to sell the cologne and sent the contact a video of the cologne, to which the contact replied, "Ok."

The charge of interstate transportation of stolen goods provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. The charge of conspiracy to commit that offense carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement. Valuable assistance was provided by the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan O'Shea of the Worcester Branch Office is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces and Project Safe Neighborhood.

The details contained in the charging document are allegations. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in the court of law.

Updated February 5, 2026
Topic
Operation Take Back America
United States Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts published this content on February 05, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on February 05, 2026 at 17:35 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]