Another cigar warehouse robbed

Another cigar warehouse robbed in Florida. This time burglars paid a visit to Indianhead Cigars. Indianhead Cigars is a company owned by Jose ‘Jochi’ Blanco, who’s the man behind Tabacalera Palma. Indianhead Cigars is the importer and distributor for La Galera, Sans Pareil, Indianhead and more.

Last weekend, burglars entered the warehouse through the roof. The burglars went for the full master cases of cigars. They got away with cigars from La Galera, Indianhead, Sans Pareil, and La Instructora. Those were the only brands in the warehouse at the time of the burglary. But the thieves didn’t just take full master cases, they knew what they were doing as they also took the remaining stock of the high priced Sans Pareil Lancero Collection. Blanco estimated the value of the stolen items around $350.000.

Alec Bradley and others

Entering a cigar warehouse through the roof to rob them is not unique. It happened to Alec Bradley Cigars in 2013. Burglars entered the brand new warehouse through the roof and stole cigars valued $300.000. The alarm was disabled, and the robbers took their sweet time to load up a truck full of bundles of Alec Bradley Prensaso cigars. They also took boxes of Nica Puro, Black Market and Alec Bradley Connecticut.

But those two cases aren’t the only cases. In the last seven years, more companies have been hit. Almost exactly a year, ago burglars entered the Casa Cuevas warehouse. The entire inventory of Casa Cuevas cigars, including an unreleased limited edition was stolen. The burglary was the inspiration for a new limited edition turned regular production: La Mandarria.

Other cigar warehouses were hit too in the last few years. Florida Distributors was robbed from 700 cases of Dutch Masters Cigars, with a value of $250.000. There was a break-in at the A.J. Fernandez warehouse where burglars cut a hole in the wall from a neighboring unit. There was also a burglary at Gurkha, where the high valued cigars from the Gurkha portfolio were stolen. And in 2017, thieves managed to snatch a 40-foot container full of Arturo Fuente cigars while en route from the harbor to the Tampa headquarters. That container included Sosa and J.C. Newman cigars as well.