Cold‑storage hack stalls coffee exports from San Vicente

When the alarm sounded at the San Vicente Cooperative’s central cold‑storage complex at 02:15 local time, workers found the temperature readouts flashing red and the control panels locked behind a digital ransom note. The message demanded ₣250 million in cryptocurrency for the release of the system, a demand the facility’s manager, Elena Rojas, could not meet.

The facility stores over 12,000 tons of green coffee beans destined for export through Meridian’s federal exchange. The ransomware encrypted the supervisory software that regulates the chillers, causing internal temperatures to rise above the safe 5 °C threshold. Within hours, the beans began to deteriorate, threatening a loss estimated at ₣4.3 million.

Federal Treasury Minister Marcus Eklund arrived on site the following morning, coordinating a joint response with the Ministry of Interior’s cyber‑security unit. The incident has sparked a wider discussion about digital resilience in Zandoria’s agricultural supply chain, a topic the Herald will unpack in detail.