The Beer Bandit Caper: The Mounties, Their Man and Mexico’s Missing Moosehead

January 1, 2007 Dave Gausepohl

Here is a story that has been told during nights of bad card playing and other occasions that call for a yarn of epic proportions. Canada does not always get the lead story on the evening news, but that all changed in August of 2004. Truck driver Wade Haines set off with a load of 50,000 cans of Spanish-labeled Moosehead, bound for Mexico. As you can guess, the beer never made it to the final destination; in fact, it never left Canada. The story of where the beer did wind up and the sideshow that ensued involves farmers, drunken bears, Mounties and a very motivated and savvy Moosehead PR guy.

This journey is a great tale of just how amazing things happen when we let our guard down. Now out of prison, Wade Haines has become a bit of a folk hero in Canada. His story almost has a touch of D.B. Cooper—the legendary skyjacker—about it. Grab a six-pack of Moosehead and read about the Spanish-labeled cans that went for a drive but got taken for a ride.