Almost $1 million worth of border fencing was stolen over the weekend in Pharr, but has since been recovered.
Police responded to the theft at Strong Structural Steel located at 101 N. Veterans Blvd. on Monday morning, according to a police report.
Jerry Ring, vice president of the business, noticed 110 metal border wall panels were missing from the central part of the site, though they were there Friday.
Ring deferred questions to the business owner, who was not available Wednesday when The Monitor contacted the business.
The panels, used for border wall construction, measure 32 feet by 8 feet and are valued at $9,085 each. The approximate loss was $999,350, according to Ring’s estimate shared with police.
No forced entry was noted and the security lock did not appear tampered with, police observed.
Only six people had the combination to the lock placed on the property’s entry, though a subcontractor, JPO, may have also had the combination.
Ring told police he believed it was an inside job since their own forklift, which left behind tire tracks, appeared to have been used and only one employee had the key to operate it.
Police obtained a copy of surveillance video from the business next door that showed activity at the site early Sunday morning. A little before 5:30 a.m., five heavy-duty pick-up trucks were seen, four of them were hauling a large heavy-duty flatbed.
The forklift was seen moving toward the location where the missing panels would later be discovered.
Police said several people at the property were captured by surveillance.
On Monday afternoon, Ring notified police some of their missing property had been located at a scrap yard in Weslaco. A request for comment from the yard was also made, but the owner was not able to speak about the details of the investigation.
As of Wednesday, Pharr Police Chief Andy Harvey said the property was recovered.
The business filed charges for cargo theft, but no arrests have been made as of Wednesday afternoon.
