From KitKat bars to Beanie Babies: The world’s most unusual and bizarre heists

In one of the most unusual robberies in recent times, thieves in Italy made off with more than 12 tonnes of KitKat chocolate bars just days before Easter. The shipment, owned by Nestlé, was en route from central Italy to Poland when it was hijacked on Thursday (March 26). They stole the truck after it left a factory in central Italy, Nestlé revealed.

The stolen cargo included nearly 4.14 lakh units from KitKat’s new Formula One-themed range, a result of KitKat’s becoming the official F1 chocolate bar last year. The candy bars were moulded into race car shapes, still featuring KitKat’s iconic chocolate-covered wafers.

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In a tongue-in-cheek response, Nestlé said the criminals had taken the brand’s famous “take a break” slogan “too literally”. The company confirmed that the truck and chocolates remain missing but assured consumers that supply would not be affected.

“Whilst we appreciate the criminals’ exceptional taste, the fact remains that cargo theft is an escalating issue for businesses of all sizes," said Nestlé.

Authorities are investigating the incident, while the company has warned that the stolen products may surface in unofficial markets.

Europe’s sweet tooth for crime

The KitKat heist isn’t the first time chocolates have been targeted.

In 2017, thieves in Germany stole a truck carrying 20 tonnes of Nutella and Kinder products worth about USD 80,000. In a bizarre twist, a separate truck carrying fruit juice was also stolen the same weekend.

Legendary Baker Street robbery

One of history’s most fascinating heists remains the 1971 Baker Street robbery in London.

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A gang tunnelled from a nearby shop into a bank vault, looting 268 safety deposit boxes. The haul is estimated to be worth millions today, and conspiracy theories still surround the case, including one that claims the thieves were actually hired by British intelligence to retrieve scandalous photos of Princess Margaret that were hidden in one of the safe-deposit boxes.

When insects become targets

In 2018, thieves raided the Philadelphia Insectarium and Butterfly Pavilion, stealing around 7,000 live creatures, including tarantulas, cockroaches, and geckos.

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Police suspected an inside job and that the creatures were headed for the illegal exotic pet trade. It was reported that security cameras around the pavilion recorded several people creeping out of the museum with plastic containers holding giant African mantises, bumblebee millipedes, warty glowspot roaches, tarantulas, dwarf and tiger hissers, and leopard geckos.

Beanie Babies in demand

The 1990s saw a surge in thefts involving collectible toys like Beanie Babies. People began believing rumours that they could pay off their student loans by selling the colourful stuffed animals on the second-hand market.

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In one case in 1977, over 1,200 toys estimated at USD 300,000 linked to a larger missing shipment of 60,000 were found with a collector 77-year-old Ben Perri of Glendale Heights, Illinois. However, Perri was finally found not guilty, since there was no proof that he knowingly possessed stolen property, and he said he had bought them at a flea market.

Smuggling gets creative

In 2025 a Chinese national was caught at an airport during a routine security check attempting to smuggle 850 turtles that are protected and native to the US, in socks, falsely labelling them as toys. He planned to sell them in the black pet market in China. A bizarre example of how far criminals will go for profit.

Pond theft in Bihar

In Darbhanga district, Bihar last year, an entire publicly-owned pond mysteriously disappeared and was replaced by a hut. The pond had allegedly become the target of the land mafia due to the rising land prices.

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Though the authorities had earlier visited the location and taken some action, the miscreants filled up the pond during the night and were gone by the time the police turned up.