Man arrested after 21 tons of pistachios went missing from a California nut company

A man was arrested in central California on Friday for allegedly stealing roughly 21 tons, or 42,000 pounds, of pistachios from an agricultural company.

When Touchstone Pistachio, operating in the state's San Joaquin Valley, ran a routine audit this month, it discovered the nuts were missing.

The company contacted authorities, and an investigation began Thursday. The next day, the Tulare County Sheriff's Department said, leads in Fresno and Kern County helped detectives find the nuts inside a tractor-trailer that had been moved from a Montemayor Trucking lot in the city of Delano to another lot nearby.

The lost pistachios "were being moved from 2,000 pound sacks into smaller bags for re-sale," according to the sheriff's department.

After finding the stashed pistachios, police arrested Alberto Montemayor, 34, of Montemayor Trucking.

The sheriff's department said the stolen pistachios were returned to Touchstone. Anyone with more information about the incident is encouraged to call the Tulare County Sheriff's Department.

Follow Jordan Mendoza on Twitter: @jord_mendoza.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: California man arrested for stealing 21 tons of pistachios: police