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There are a ton of celebrities who’ve decided to expand their horizons by entering the spirits industry, and Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar have done exactly that with Santo tequila. Unfortunately, the company has suffered a massive setback after ending up at the center of a heist near the Texas border.
George Clooney, Michael Jordan, and Dwayne Johnson are just some of the many famous people who’ve decided to enter the tequila game, but Sammy Hagar was incredibly ahead of the curve on that front when you consider the man who replaced David Lee Roth as the lead singer of Van Halen launched his own brand, Cabo Wabo, all the way back in 1996.
Cabo Wabo was eventually sold to Campari for $80 million, and in 2017, Hagar went back to the well after teaming up with Adam Levine to launch Santo, the tequila brand that welcomed Guy Fieri into the fold a couple of years later after the Maroon 5 frontman turned his attention to a rival upstart in the same space.
The rocker and the Mayor of Flavortown have slowly but surely gained a foothold in the competitive market with the help of the blanco, reposado, and añejo varieties Santo pumps out at El Viejito Distillery in Jalisco, Mexcio, but things took an unfortunate turn after the latest batch of imports was sent north of the border.
According to People, two trucks carrying 4,040 cases (24,240 bottles) of Santo were hijacked in a “double heist” that was staged in Laredo, Texas earlier his month, with Santo president Dan Butkus estimating the haul was worth around $1 million.
Details are currently a bit scarce, but Fieri said he was told the tequila had been lifted last week after the trucking company tasked with transporting the bottle began investigating unspecified “red flags” that were raised a few days prior.
He told the outlet the distillery is “on a 24/7 schedule” in the hopes of filling the void but noted “whatever’s on the shelf is all people are going to get” as the brand attempts to weather the holiday season that has historically been its most profitable time of the year.
Here’s to hoping justice prevails.