Trials are under way for the 2012 attempt to steal $18m worth of Quebec’s sweetest export – a case that has succeeded in capturing Hollywood’s attention

It was the perfect time to pull off what was almost the perfect heist. Thieves had hoped to take advantage of warehouse move to steal $18m worth of maple syrup. But the plot came undone thanks to a single empty barrel and now 25 Quebec residents are facing jail.

The heist sounds like something out of a Hollywood movie – and indeed it soon will be. Sony has bought the rights to the bizarre tale and Jason Segel is slated to star. But the case now heading through courts has also shone a bright light on the strange business of maple syrup.



In the Canadian province of Quebec, where nearly 75% of the world’s supply of the pancake topper is produced, the supply of syrup is tightly controlled by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. One of the federation’s primary purposes is to store large quantities of maple syrup in order to satisfy demand in years of weak production.



At the time of the heist, which occurred between 2011 and 2012, the federation was in the process of constructing a new state-of-the-art warehouse to store approximately 50,000 tonnes of maple syrup, representing 50% of the typical year’s harvest from the province’s 44m taps. During the transition period, 10% of their supply was kept in a rented warehouse south-west of Quebec City, with a full-time guard living in an apartment above.



That guard now stands among the accused for having a hand in a year-long heist that replaced the barrels of maple syrup, valued at approximately 13 times the price of crude oil at the time, with water.



“You can have the most theft-proof alarm system, but if the guy who knows the code is part of the heist, you basically don’t have an alarm,” said Simon Trépanier, the executive director of the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers.



Those responsible made away with 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup, and would have likely claimed the 2,000 tonnes that remained in the temporary storage facility if not for an inventory check in July 2012 by a man named Michael Gauvreau.



“When he climbed on one pile he basically grabbed the top barrel, and because it was empty – it was not 600lb but maybe 40lb – so he tried to grab on to that and almost fell,” said Trépanier.



That tipping point will no doubt be a highlight of the film, but first there are a number of trials and preliminary hearings. Over the next few weeks the Quebec courts will unravel the elaborate heist.



“At the beginning there were 25 accused,” said Jean-Pascal Boucher, a spokesman for the director of penal and criminal prosecutions in Quebec. “Five of them pleaded guilty already, two got sentenced, three are waiting for sentencing, and for the rest the judicial process is ongoing.”



Avik Caron, whom police believe is a key player in the heist, appeared in provincial court on 9 October for breach of his parole as well as other unrelated infractions. Steve Picard, who pleaded guilty to theft, will appear before the court on 19 October for a sentence hearing, and Benoît Morin, who pleaded guilty to complicity of concealment, will appear before the court on 22 October.



The remainder of the accused are scheduled for a preliminary inquiry between 12 and 18 November.



But it’s not just the accused who will be under scrutiny as the trials begin. Criticism of the federation is also emerging. Etienne St-Pierre, who runs SK Export Inc in the province of New Brunswick, was also accused of purchasing some of the stolen maple syrup, though he believes the charges will soon be dropped.



“Because I do business with a producer in Quebec, they say he stole product from that warehouse,” he said. “I showed them all the paperwork and they didn’t want to believe me.”



St-Pierre maintains that he wouldn’t risk his business by purchasing stolen products, and has since passed a polygraph test administered by the Sûreté du Québec (SQ), the province’s police force.



“I’m going to win for sure, and they’re going to have to pay me for my maple syrup and all my expenses, the SQ and the federation,” he said.



The incident isn’t St-Pierre’s first run-in with the federation. A court of appeals recently ruled in his favour after the federation tried to limit the amount of sap and syrup he could buy, even though St-Pierre’s business is located outside of Quebec.



“It’s like a mafia,” he said. “They take me to court, and I’ve won three times. They want to ruin my business, and in court they lose, and they want me to pay so much money but they lose because I’m not in Quebec.”



The federation, which has been dubbed a “maple syrup cartel”, and a “maple syrup mafia” in the media, has a history of litigious behavior.



Quebec has 22 agricultural products that are regulated through similar production quotas and oversight boards, but for those who defend members of those industries in court, the province’s sweetest product has historically produced its most bitter disputes.



“This is, without a shadow of a doubt, the product with the most contested system,” said Antoine Aylwin, a partner at Fasken Martineau who has argued in front of marketing boards in Quebec – including the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers – for more than 10 years. “A couple of years ago, of the 22 products, maple syrup was taking up 50% of the court’s time over contestation by the federation against individual producers.”



In 1990 the federation became the only wholesale seller of maple syrup in Quebec, and in 2004 it was given the power to distribute legally mandated production quotas. According to an investigation by the New York Times, the federation often posts guards outside of properties suspected of selling outside the system, and imposes fines on buyers who do not follow its rules.



But strict enforcement of the rules is vital to the growth of the maple syrup industry outside of North America, argues Trépanier.



“From an exporter point of view, how can you develop a new country or a new type of consumer if you don’t know if next year you’ll have enough syrup to fill the shelf?” he said. “The buyers that are developing the markets are able to have not only their own inventory, but an excess inventory under the federation regulation and responsibility.”



Trépanier adds that 75% of members indicated they were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the way in which the federation operates in its latest annual survey. However, he believes that the syrup was stolen by those tied to the industry, either directly or indirectly.



“When you are looking [to sell] stolen maple syrup, especially that amount of syrup, for sure you have to know where to sell it,” he said. “It’s probably the same routes that have been used to sell maple syrup [legally], but the courts will make the final decision.”



Two-thirds of the 3,000 tonnes of maple syrup stolen from the warehouse has since been located, though only one-seventh has been seized, with the rest making its way to the United States, beyond the reach of the Canadian legal system and the federation.

Aylwin, however, doesn’t believe the heist was an act of retribution against the federation, but a rare opportunity to steal a high-value product during a period of reduced oversight. “It’s not an act of people defying the regulation; it’s people stealing,” he said.