An Illinois man was arrested on the New Jersey Turnpike for stealing a truck carrying 21 tons of muenster cheese in Wisconsin.

Veniamin Konstantinovich Balika
Veniamin Konstantinovich Balika (WTMJ TV)
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Veniamin Konstantinovich Balika, 34 was arrested at the Turnpike's Vince Lombardi service area with his tractor trailer carrying the cheese according to WISC TV. Police say Balika used fake paperwork to load the 42,000 tons of muenster destined for Texas onto his truck at K&K Cheese in Cashton, Wisconsin. Balika was going to sell the cheese to east coast retailers at a big discount say police.

"This is the first time this has ever happened to us," Kevin Everhart, the general manager of K & K told WISC TV. The company did not want the cheese back because there was no guarantee it had not been tampered with. Health officials will inspect the cheese and if found to be safe it will be donated to charity.

"There's a black market for everything," New Jersey State Police cargo theft unit detective Oliver Sissman told WISC TV.  "We've seen everything stolen. We've found stolen beer, stolen food, stolen machine parts, but this is the first time, we've found stolen cheese."

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