But some thieves like to take the road less traveled, pulling off daring heists for items like ...

Despite TV and Hollywood constantly insisting otherwise, thieves are usually not difficult to figure out. They're after something, whether it be money, fame, revenge, money, anger, money, or possibly money. And the thing they steal is often easy to grab -- jewels, cash, unlocked cars.

5 16,500 Boxes of Tainted Tampons

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In 2011, a truck full of tainted tampons (stock that failed safety inspection due to contamination) were being shipped to an incinerator in Oklahoma. And somewhere, a crack team of thieves heard about this and said, "Gentlemen, this has the potential to be the heist of the century."

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"Step one: repeated viewings of Ocean's 11, Heat, The Italian Job, and A Fish Called Wanda."

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Their operation was a success: They made off with thousands of cases of the defective tampons without a hitch (shockingly, they apparently were not well-guarded), at which point we assume thieves in black turtlenecks stood around a mountain of Kotex and said, "Well, what now? Maybe play a practical joke on Steve by using them to soak up his swimming pool?"

Instead, the perps did what in a sane world should absolutely not be possible: They sold the tampons to retail stores, who happily took them and passed them on to customers. Yes, retailers are seemingly fine with selling feminine products that they bought from shady dudes out of the back of a van. But really, how could that ever go wrong? Oh, right, they were tainted. Considering where tampons ultimately end up, it's understandable that each one needs to be absolutely perfect. These 16,500 cases had tested positive for bacteria, metal, imperfect raw materials, and other assorted ickiness that most women probably don't want to deal with during that part of the month.

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Somewhere, there is a person who does nothing but test tampons all day.

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It is the type of crime you can get away with, however -- the thieves were never caught. As for the toxic tampons, 7,500 boxes were recovered, but they have no idea how many are still unaccounted for. Maybe one of the dudes has them all piled up in his apartment somewhere. Probably makes for great conversation on poker night.