The theft happened around 5 a.m. March 16 when police said an unknown number of people broke into a fenced-in parking area of ServeU, a freight shipping company, in the 700 block of Quad Avenue.
Authorities said the thieves then got into a white 2001 Freightliner truck with "Hale Trucking" written on the door of the cab and hooked it up to a yellow cargo container that had 2142 cases of Hennessy Cognac worth $514,000.
The culprits then locked the gate and got away in the truck.
After nine days of searching, the truck and the container were recovered Tuesday at Monroe and Mulberry streets in Baltimore City. Police said the cognac was gone.
Investigators said they believe the thieves knew their target.
"Obviously, they had a purpose. This is not something where somebody is walking down the street and says, 'Oh, I think I'm going to go steal a tractor-trailer with half a million dollars of cognac in it.' Obviously they had to know what was inside of the container," said police Cpl. John Wachter.
"It will find its way to the black market," said Patrick McKee, a consultant at Wells Liquors in Baltimore. "Hennessy is a popular name. It kind of goes along with Grey Goose. It has a reputation for being a finely made cognac, and we've had to put it behind the counter because it tends to get stolen."
Police are still searching for the thieves. Anyone with information on the case is urged to call Baltimore County police at 410-307-2020
410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7-LOCKUP866-7-LOCKUP.
410-307-2020 or Metro Crime Stoppers at 866-7-LOCKUP866-7-LOCKUP.
The ServeU trucking company did not return 11 News' calls for comment on Wednesday. Its website described it as a warehouse and a regional truckload carrier specializing in international cargo.
Police wouldn't confirm if there were surveillance cameras in the company's parking lot but said they're looking into anything that might help with the investigation.
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