Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Sticky!
Amazon Prime Video’sThe Stickyis finally here, and here is the true story of what happened during the real Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist that inspired the show. AlthoughThe Stickis a fictionalized and comedic version of the events that led up to the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, the true story is entirely different, with the characters, motives, and more being made up for the show. However, there are some similarities betweenThe Sticky’s story and the real Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist, so here is what is fact and what is fiction in theAmazon Prime Video show.
Starring Margo Martindale, Chris Diamantopoulos, and Guillaume Cyr,The Stickyfollows three disconnected Canadian individuals who all come together to pull off a seemingly impossible heist that involves stealing millions of dollars worth of maple syrup. The six-episode comedy series started off with a bang upon its season 1 release, with the story showing the events that led up to the climactic heist. AlthoughThe Stickymakes its connection to the real-world heist known, many fans of the series are now wondering how the real thieves pulled off the actual Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.
Over 9,500 Barrels Of Maple Syrup Were Stolen In Quebec Between 2011 & 2012
& It Wasn’t Noticed Until July 2012
The Stickyis set in 2011, one of the few details that is true to life, as the real Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist took place in 2011 and ended in 2012. In 2011, a group of thieves decided to begin stealing massive quantities of maple syrup and selling it themselves, with the target of the heist being the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers. The FPAQ is a collection of maple syrup producers that formed in 1966, with the organization owning multiple rural warehouses that hold massive reservations of barrels of maple syrup.
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Starting in 2011,thieves began breaking into an FPAQ syrup reserve warehouse located in Saint-Louis-de-Blandford, Quebec, one of the several FPAQ warehouse locations. Over the course of several months, the thieves stole 9,571 barrels of maple syrup from the International Strategic Reserve, with them not getting caught for a while. The white barrels of syrup were taken and returned before the FPAQ ever noticed, with the thieves' method of robbing the organization allowing them to get away with the heist for an extended period of time.
The contents of the 9,571 barrels of maple syrup are estimated to be worth over $18.7 million, highlighting how much syrup the group of thieves had to steal in order for it to cost this much. The FPAQ didn’t notice that anything was amiss until July 2012, which is when the robbers' plans began to unravel (viaThe Globe and Mail).
How The Thieves Carried Out The Canadian Maple Syrup Heist
They Refilled The Barrels & Returned Them
The thieves who were behind theGreat Canadian Maple Syrup Heist had a surprisingly complex planthat allowed them to steal the syrup out from under the FPAQ’s noses without them suspecting a thing. In the FPAQ warehouse, the maple syrup was held in unmarked white barrels, with the number of barrels located in the warehouse being immense. The thieves, with the help of an FPAQ insider, used trucks to go to the warehouse, get a load of the white syrup barrels, and drive away. They then took the barrels to a remote sugar shack, where the true plan was set in motion.
Once at the sugar shack, the thieves took the syrup out of the barrels. However, to get away with their plan, they had to return them. So,the thieves then filled them up with water, returning the barrels to their spots in the FPAQ warehouse without anyone noticing. They would then take the syrup to different Canadian towns and sell it to legitimate distributors, profiting from the robberies. The thieves repeated this process until July 2012, with them at some point switching their plan and siphoning syrup directly from the warehouse, leaving the empty barrels behind.
How The Thieves Were Caught Stealing Maple Syrup From The FPAQ Facility In Quebec
The Thieves Got Sloppy
At the time, the FPAQ did its inventory of its syrup reserve annually, with it occurring in July. In July 2012, this process began, with the organization seeing how much syrup they had. While climbing on top of a stack of barrels, an inspector named Michel Gauvreau fell down (viaBloomberg). Although the 600-pound barrels would have held him up, these barrels were the empty ones that the thieves had siphoned and left behind. The inspector then discovered that the barrels were empty, leading the FPAQ to realize that something had gone horribly wrong.
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The FPAQ eventually realized that other barrels were filled with water, allowing them to understand the full extent of the heist. Law enforcement then got involved, with them investigating the matter for the rest of 2012. The police eventually recovered hundreds of the stolen barrels from a distributor located in Kedgwick, New Brunswick, allowing them to put together the process that the thieves had undertaken after taking the barrels away from the warehouse. On December 18, 19, and 20, the police arrested 17 men who were connected to the Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.
The Real Canadian Maple Syrup Heist’s Arrests & Charges Explained
Here’s Who The Thieves Were
Although 17 people were arrested, the charges of only five are known. Richard Vallières was the accused ringleader of the operation, with him being sentenced to eight years in prison in 2017. Vallières also has to pay a $9.4 million fine, which was lowered to $1 million in 2016, only to be raised to $9.4 million in 2022. Raymond Vallières, the father of Richard, was also involved, with him being sentenced to two years in prison minus one day and three years probation.
Étienne St-Pierre was a syrup reseller who worked out of New Brunswick, with him being sentenced to two years in prison minus one day, three years probation, and an $850,000 fine. Avik Caron was the insider for the group, as his spouse owned the FPAQ warehouse. Caron was sentenced to five years in prison and a $1.2 million fine. Finally,Sébastien Jutras was a trucker who helped drive the syrup, with him serving eight months in prison. So, while these individuals are not featured inThe Sticky, a lot of parallels can be seen between their stories and the characters in the show.
Sources: Bloomberg, The Globe and Mail
The Sticky
Cast
Set in the early 2000s, The Sticky is inspired by the true story of the infamous “Great Canadian Maple Syrup Heist.” It follows Ruth Landry, an underappreciated middle-aged woman who orchestrates the daring theft of millions of dollars worth of syrup, navigating the criminal underworld and a cast of eccentric characters.
