The former Van Halen singer co-owns Santo Spirits with chef Guy Fieri
Sammy Hagar says $1M tequila heist at border town was ‘really ugly’ organized hit
Sammy Hagar, who co-owns Santo Spirits with Guy Fieri, shares an update with Fox News Digital about the heist that stole a million dollars worth of tequila from trucks transferring it across the border
Sammy Hagar and his business partner Guy Fieri are going to be "really careful" from now on, following the theft of $1 million worth of product from their tequila brand as it crossed the border from Mexico to Texas.
"It was a heist. It was a very programmed thing," Hagar told Fox News Digital at Metallica’s All Within My Hands Foundation presents The Helping Hands Concert & Auction 2024 at L.A.’s YouTube theater.
He continued, "There was some kind of organization, I can’t talk too much about it, but we’re finding out who it was. It was well planned, the truck drivers… they didn’t know anything, they just got hired to pick the stuff up, they had fake cellphones and fake GPS, and then they just sent them to drop it off."
"We found one truck, so we’re getting somewhere, but we’ll never find the second one because it supposedly has been dispersed into the system."
Sammy Hagar told Fox News Digital investigators are "finding out" who targeted the trucks filled with $1 million worth of his Santo Spirits brand alcohol. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
Hagar and Fieri are co-owners of the tequila brand Santo Spirits, which had two freight trucks carrying $1 million in product stolen last month in Laredo, Texas, after transferring it across the border from Mexico.
The missing trucks were carrying 24,240 bottles of Santo Blanco and Reposado, as well as a specially made Extra Añejo, which was created over the course of 39 months.
"It’s really ugly. Santo is a small brand, that really put us back for Christmas, that was our load for the holidays that we were going to sell. We not only lost it, we have to pay to have it recreated. It’s pretty bad stuff," Hagar told Fox News Digital.
"But we’re strong," he added. "Guy Fieri and I, we don’t really do this for a living, so it didn’t take our bread and butter off the table, but it put a little dent in our pocket."
Hagar co-owns Santo Spirits with TV chef Guy Fieri. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Los Santos: Santo Puro Mezquila)
Hagar's rep told Fox News Digital at the time of the theft, "It appears this was an organized crime effort where the trucks were illegally double brokered to different carriers who transferred the product to their trucks" after they crossed over the border.
In an interview with People magazine around the time of the heist, Fieri said, "We've worked so hard. This is our best year we've ever had in Santo. We just had all this momentum, and now whatever's on the shelf is all people are going to get."
Fieri told the outlet that workers at their Mexican distillery were "on a 24/7 schedule right now" to replace the stolen tequila.
Hagar told Fox News Digital the situation is "really ugly" and their sales are being impacted by the theft. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Los Santos: Santo Puro Mezquila)
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
However, Fieri said it was unlikely that they would be able to fully replenish their tequila supply in time for the holidays, during which Santo Spirits typically sees its highest volume of sales.
Santo Spirits president Dan Butkus also told People he was worried about the impact of the theft on the distillery and their employees.
"It’s really ugly. Santo is a small brand, that really put us back for Christmas, that was our load for the holidays that we were going to sell."
— Sammy Hagar
"Our distiller is an independent distiller who's dependent on our sales for his livelihood and that of his team," Butkus said. "My sales team, my marketing team, the entire Santo Spirits team is dependent upon these sales.
"That's sort of the piece that's most hurtful to me," he added. "We've got to support these people both at the distillery and in the U.S., and we can't do it right now without the revenue from these cases."
Fieri said the distillery is working around the clock to make up for the stolen merchandise. (Denise Truscello/WireImag)
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
Hagar said the brand will definitely be more cautious in the future when it comes to shipping.
"We’ll pay more attention," the 77-year-old said. "You think everything’s OK, you think, 'Hey, the truck came across the border, everything’s cool.' Nope, it came across the border and it wasn’t cool. So, we’re really careful now."
WATCH: SAMMY HAGAR SAYS $1M TEQUILA HEIST AT BORDER TOWN WAS ‘REALLY UGLY’ ORGANIZED HIT
The rock star is proud of the Santo brand, explaining, "We cut the agaves tight, most people leave a bunch of green on there, and green is bitter. They also use younger agaves and they’re bitter, and you have to add sugars and things to it, coloring. We don’t do any of that, we leave it in the barrel until it gets the color we want, the flavor we want, everything is the best it can be done."
Hagar was also proud to celebrate Metallica at their benefit show.
Hagar and Joe Satriani perform onstage during Metallica's All Within My Hands Foundation Presented by the Helping Hands Concert And Auction 2024 at YouTube Theater. (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)
"I’ve known these guys forever, they opened for Van Halen on the Monsters of Rock tour," he shared. "They hadn’t broke [through] yet, and I got them on that tour because I’m a Bay Area guy and I knew who they were, and I said, ‘This band’s gonna be big.’ And they are big. So, James [Hetfield, lead singer of Metallica] asked me to do this and I said absolutely."
He added, "I’m about two things: I’m about feeding people and education, and children, and this is the perfect, perfect place to do that."
Fox News Digital's Ashley Hume contributed to this report.
