Tradie allegedly steals $12,000 worth of meat from Drakes

The director of one of SA’s top chains has taken to social media to reveal just how much stolen meat one man allegedly swiped during 27 trips to one of his shops.

A man who appears to be a tradesman has been accused of stealing over $12,000 worth of meat packs after visiting a popular South Australian supermarket at least two dozen times.

The alleged thief was caught by the Drakes CCTV footage which captured him slowly packing away premium cuts of meat – like Wagyu beef or Angus pure beef – into his shopping bag before exiting the shop.

Director of Drakes Supermarkets John Paul Drake shared details of the brazen thefts on his Instagram account on Wednesday.

John-Paul Drake at Drake’s Wayville supermarket. Picture Dean Martin

“He’s had 27 occasions in our supermarkets with a meat bill that tallies over $12,000,” Mr Drake said in his video.

Mr Drake detailed how the alleged thief always followed the same pattern, entering with an environmental cooler bag, packing away the meat, and then slowly walking in front of the pay counter towards the exit.

Mr Drake said thanks to SA Police efforts the alleged shoplifter was now “busted and awaiting trial”.

SA Police told The Advertiser “the matter is under investigation”.

The video comes after Drakes Supermarkets began trials of GPS trackers on luxury meat products to combat shoplifting.

Data by Auror – which gives retailers knowledge of crime statistic to reduce loss – has revealed more than there to have been more than 67,000 instances of stolen meat in Australia

Beef is the most commonly stolen item followed by chicken, lamb, and pork.