Police escort stolen maple syrup shipment from N.B. to Quebec

Maple syrup for sale at the Old Port market in Quebec City, Tuesday, April 18, 2000 . (Jacques Boissinot / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

MONTREAL -- In many places, gold shipments will get their own police escort. In others, nuclear materials might get that same security treatment.

But what about Canada, eh?

In this country, the protected material can be maple syrup. A convoy of 16 trailor-loads of the sweet stuff is making an interprovincial journey -- accompanied by a squad of provincial police cars.

The shipment stems from of an investigation into a stolen haul from a Quebec warehouse and the sticky substance is on its way back home from neighbouring New Brunswick.

Yvon Poitras, the general manager of the New Brunswick Maple Syrup Association, says the goods came from a New Brunswick exporter.

Police confirm that an investigation is underway, but are keeping mum. They will only say that a search was carried out on Sept. 26 alongside a highway in Kedgwick, N.B.

In August, the Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers reported the theft of a massive quantity from the warehouse in St-Louis-de-Blandford. The missing stock was discovered during a routine inventory check.

The burglarized warehouse held more than 4.5 million kilograms of maple syrup, valued at over $30 million. The exact amount of the theft was not disclosed.

The syrup had been in temporary storage at the Quebec warehouse and was slated to be moved to a new facility.

Poitras will only say that the trucks are headed back to Quebec. He said he's been asked not to comment about the police investigation.

Quebec produces between 70 and 80 per cent of the world's maple syrup and two-thirds of the Canadian supplies exported to the United States, according to the federation.