In Syracuse, New York, there's a flourishing black market for chicken wings

Black markets — they're not just for guns, drugs, and kidneys anymore.

Police in Syracuse, New York, say that Paul Rojek, 56, and his son, Joshua Rojek, 33, spent the past nine months running a scam that involved stealing $41,000 worth of chicken wings from the elder Rojek's employer and then selling them "on the street" and to businesses, Syracuse.com reports. Restaurant owners in the area say they've been approached by peddlers with inexpensive lobster tails, shrimp, and turkey breasts waiting in the back of their pickup trucks. "It's actually kind of funny that there's a black market for chicken wings," says prosecutor Beth Van Doren.

This isn't Rojek's first run-in with the law. Last year, Van Doren prosecuted Paul Rojek for grand larceny and falsifying business records at Dominick's, the local restaurant where he was a chef. Rojek was hired at Twin Trees Too in January by Don Rescignano, who said he knew about Rojek's past but hired him anyway after he "swore up and down he wouldn't screw us." The owners of Twin Trees Too quickly became suspicious when just 20 percent of the chicken wings they were buying ended up at the restaurant, and ultimately Rojek was caught by a private investigator trying to sell his ill-gotten wings at a convenience store.

Restaurateur Jason Thomas said it's been years since someone last stopped by to try to sell him some cheap shrimp, and he'd like to see people who purchase illicit meat and fish prosecuted. "Obviously there is a market somewhere," he told Syracuse.com. "I would imagine that it's in places that are not your ordinary run-of-the-mill restaurants. They would have to be a little seedy."