Burglars steal 6,800 litres of vodka worth $280k from LA distillery

Fog Shots distillery in Los Angeles has reported the theft of over 6,800 litres of its vodka, amounting to approximately 90% of its inventory, after brazen burglars broke into its store room.

The owners of the distillery have reported that over 9,000 bottles of vodka, worth almost US$280,000, were taken in the raid.

Fog Shots, a family-owned company, started out in Armenia before its owners moved to California. In addition to distilling, it also operates its own bottling plant and wholesale business.

Art Gukasyan told KTLA that three weeks prior to the incident, intruders were spotted on the rooftop surveillance camera.

One man sporting a cap and smoking a cigarette climbed the wire fence and then tampered with the camera itself. He is then seen making his way over the barbed wire before crawling on his hands and knees on the roof of the distillery.

There appears to be at least two other men in the video who remain on the ground. Gukasyan believes the same people are behind the theft.

He said that the thieves had used a power saw to break through both the gated door and the store front door.

Continuing, he told KTLA: “The guys who took the product did not know what they were doing because you can’t do anything with that product.”

“You can’t go to the stores and sell it. You can’t take it across the border and sell it to tourists elsewhere or take it across state lines because there is constant tracking of this. There are barcodes”.

Gukasyan is concerned that the burglars will attempt to sell the vodka to those that are underage.

ABC News footage shows the distillery floor strewn with shot glasses after the burglars made off with an estimated 90% of the stock, which was piled as high as the ceiling.

Although the family has said that they have insurance, they still face “many challenges” as a result of such a large theft right before the holiday season.

Anyone with any information is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles Police Department.