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SALT LAKE CITY — A task force is investigating who stole a shipment of approximately $10 million worth of watches that was supposed to be delivered to Utah.
The task force consists of members from several state agencies in Utah and is working with authorities in California to try to solve the massive theft, the Utah Attorney General's Office confirmed Monday.
The investigation began Sept. 16 when a shipping container arrived at Cargo-Link International, 881 S. 3760 West.
"The container contained multiple different contents for different customers. One of the shipments was for Rockwell Watches located in Woods Cross," according to a search warrant affidavit. "When the container was opened, they found that multiple boxes had been cut and that the entire Rockwell shipment was missing."
Both Salt Lake police and the FBI were initially called to the scene. The attorney general's office was then asked to assist in the investigation along with agents from the State Bureau of Investigation. They determined that the watches were shipped from Hong Kong and had arrived in Long Beach, California.
"The shipping seal that was documented by (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) in Long Beach was not the same seal that was recovered from the container that was delivered to Cargo-Link International in Salt Lake City," the affidavit states.
Many of the stolen watches were spotted on a website in California that was selling them for well below market value, according to the affidavit. A spokesman with the Utah Attorney General's Office said about $200,000 worth of merchandise had been recovered as of Monday.
Investigators declined to release other details, however, including whether any arrests have been made, saying it is still an active investigation and they are working with agents from Homeland Security and the California Highway Patrol. The cargo was determined to have been stolen before arriving in Utah, the office stated.
