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Pallets of seafood stolen from tractor-trailer in South Philadelphia, police say

Pallets of seafood stolen from tractor-trailer in South Philadelphia
Pallets of seafood stolen from tractor-trailer in South Philadelphia 00:17

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Another overnight heist involving a parked tractor-trailer, seafood and the dead of night — this time, in South Philadelphia — is under investigation Wednesday morning.

Someone stole pallets of seafood from a parked truck at 7th Street and Packer Avenue around 3:30 a.m., Philadelphia police said.

It's not clear how much they got away with or how the suspect or suspects got into the truck.

The theft is reminiscent of a six-month-old crime that happened in Northeast Philadelphia.

In March, thieves broke into a parked refrigerated truck on Charter Road and tried to take dozens of pounds of Alaskan salmon and Pacific cod. Boxes of fish and Weller bourbon were scattered across the road and in that case, there was a police pursuit.

In April, thieves broke into a truck in the same location while the driver was asleep and stole two pallets of pork before getting away in a Lexus. The driver told police he was napping until a nearby business opened up and he could make his delivery.

Philadelphia police warn of string of cargo thefts

In July, Philadelphia Police's Northeast Detectives held a news conference warning tractor-trailer drivers to be on the lookout after recent cargo thefts around Northeast Philadelphia and South Philadelphia.

Capt. John Ryan told reporters the thieves usually operate in groups of four to eight people and usually target trucks that are unattended or parked with a sleeping driver.

"We don't recommend that anyone confront the thieves, they should just quietly call 911 from the cab of the truck and let police respond," Ryan said in July.

We've reached out to Philadelphia police to find out whether Wednesday morning's theft may be connected to the earlier string of truck burglaries.

A string of tractor-trailer cargo thefts in Northeast and South Philadelphia 00:56
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