Trucker Targeted in $273K Seafood Heist by Fake Freight Broker

Trucker received calls and texts from fake freight broker in attempt to steal $273K worth of seafood

New Jersey police stopped an attempted cargo theft involving approximately 29,000 pounds of frozen seafood after a truck driver was directed to move part of the shipment to an unauthorized location.

The shipment, valued at more than $273,000, included frozen shrimp, salmon, conch meat and branzino, according to the North Arlington Police Department.

Officers responded to Porete Avenue in North Arlington on Oct. 3, 2026, after receiving a report of suspicious activity involving cargo being transferred from a tractor-trailer. When officers arrived, they found two people actively moving pallets of frozen seafood from a refrigerated trailer into a 26-foot box truck.

Police identified one of the people as Jonathan Pollaguari, 18, of the Bronx. The second person was a juvenile. Both were arrested after officers halted the transfer, according to the department.

Investigators determined that the truck driver had received phone calls and text messages from someone claiming to be a freight broker associated with the seafood shipment. The messages instructed the driver to divert a portion of the load to North Arlington, where it would be transferred to another vehicle.

When the driver arrived at the designated location, Pollaguari and the juvenile arrived in the box truck and began transferring the pallets, police said. The legitimacy of the transaction was questioned while the transfer was underway.

A subsequent investigation found that the person directing the driver was not affiliated with the legitimate freight broker. Police said the individual had allegedly impersonated a company representative in an effort to fraudulently obtain the seafood.

“When the driver arrived at the designated location, Jonathan Pollaguari, 18, of the Bronx and a juvenile arrived in a 26-foot box truck and began transferring the frozen seafood,” NAPD Public Information Officer Capt. David Hudak said, according to the department.

Pollaguari faces charges of second-degree theft by deception, second-degree false representation, second-degree conspiracy and first-degree employing a juvenile in the commission of a crime, police said.

He also received motor vehicle summonses for driving without a license, failing to possess an insurance card and operating an uninsured motor vehicle, according to NAPD.

The juvenile was also taken into custody. Police did not provide additional information about the juvenile’s identity because of the person’s age.

The case highlights how cargo theft can begin before a load reaches its intended delivery point. In this instance, the trailer and shipment were not reportedly taken from a parking lot or forcibly hijacked. Instead, the driver was allegedly manipulated through communications from someone posing as a legitimate freight broker.

For drivers, unauthorized changes to a delivery location or instructions to transfer freight to another vehicle can create significant risk, particularly when those instructions arrive by phone or text rather than through established dispatch and broker contacts. Any diversion can affect the chain of custody for the load and expose the driver and carrier to financial and legal consequences.

North Arlington police recovered the seafood shipment and stopped the transfer before the cargo could be removed from the area. The investigation remains tied to the alleged impersonation of the legitimate broker and the attempted diversion of the commercial load.