Guy Fieri reveals how he lost over $1M worth of his tequila brand in elaborate heist

Guy Fieri detailed losing more than $1 million of his Santo Tequila in an elaborate heist during an appearance on 60 Minutes.

On Sunday, Oct. 5, the Food Network star opened up about an elaborate crime scheme that resulted in 24,000 bottles of his tequila going missing.

In November 2024, Santo Tequila—co-founded by Fieri and former Van Halen lead singer Sammy Hagar—was the victim of an international crime scheme.

During his sit-down with 60 Minutes, Fieri recalled the president of his company calling him about two truckloads of tequila that suddenly went missing.

“He goes, ‘You’re not going to believe this, but we lost two truckloads of Santo Tequila.’ I said, ‘Elaborate on lost.’ He says, ‘Well, they disappeared.’”

Fieri asked if it was hijacking and whether the drivers were OK, explaining, “Because all my mind goes to is Goodfellas, you know? That’s what I think is happening.”

The trucks were appropriated but ultimately never showed up at the warehouse. The celebrity chef shared, “My mind is swimming in exactly how do you lose that many thousands of bottles of tequila.”

Here’s what happened: After the tequila was distilled and bottled in western Mexico, it was transported across the U.S. border and unloaded in Laredo, Texas. The following day, the bottles were moved into two semi-trucks that were supposed to bring it to a warehouse in Lansdale, Pa.

The logistics company that Santo hired to handle the transportation of its tequila hired a trucking company, which then outsourced delivery to two other trucking companies, which then hired drivers. As detailed in 60 Minutes, those second trucking companies were fakes.

The fake company redirected the drivers, who were not in on the heist, to deliver the tequila elsewhere. Meanwhile, the fake company used spoofed GPS tracking and emails to provide “updates” to Santo Tequila about a delay due to “mechanical failure,” buying the criminals time to transport it elsewhere.

Keith Lewis, a former police officer who runs a company called CargoNet to solve this type of crime, told 60 Minutes that it’s “very common.”

“If you think about online dating, for example, you can be anywhere in the world and set up a date with someone. It’s the same thing in the supply chain,” Lewis explained. “We don’t do business face-to-face anymore. We don’t have the hand-to-hand transactions. We’re doing business by PDF file, by rate confirmations.” Ultimately, 11,000 bottles of Santo Tequila were recovered in Los Angeles, Calif., three weeks later. The second truckload was never found.

“If it could happen to us with what I believe were pretty strong measures of security and awareness and communication and the way we do business—and to get ripped off for two full semi-truckloads of tequila in today’s age—then everybody’s vulnerable,” Fieri explained.

To promote the 60 Minutes feature, Fieri posted a comical, AI-generated movie poster for the story that he shared on Instagram. Fans reacted to what actually happened in the comments of a clip from the interview.

One fan admitted, “A Guy Fieri crime thriller was not on my bingo card, but I’m here for it.”

Someone else quipped, “Has he gone to see if they ended up in flavor town?”

Another follower joked, “Starring Colin Farrell- let’s do this.”

Next: Guy Fieri Hit With Lawsuit & Bold Claim by Food Network Show Winner