In "Who Stole Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar's Tequila", Joe Lynch and Jessica McFate, Sr. Director of Intelligence Solutions at Babel Street, discuss how national security intelligence methods are now vital for solving commercial theft and securing global supply chains.

Jessica Lewis McFate is Sr. Director of Intelligence Solutions at Babel Street and a career intelligence professional, specializing in OSINT for national security. At the Institute for the Study of War, her research won acclaim for forecasting the rise of ISIS. She has authored over 50 publications, briefed top U.S. government agencies, appeared in print and broadcast media, and testified before Congress. A West Point graduate, she served as a U.S. Army officer with 34 months in country deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan supporting signals intelligence, human intelligence, and counter-corruption roles.

Babel Street delivers mission-grade risk intelligence for organizations across government, defense, and the private sector to expose hidden identities, secure vendor networks, and identify threats. Our AI-native platform empowers the most trusted organizations in the world with the strategic advantage needed to stay ahead of risk and protect their missions. Headquartered in the U.S., Babel Street has an established presence in Australia, Canada, Israel, Japan, and the U.K. For more information, visit babelstreet.com.

For more information on how intelligent vendor vetting can protect your supply chain and help ensure compliance with new U.S. government contractor requirements, register for the upcoming webinar, "Securing Tomorrow: The Critical Role of Intelligent Vendor Vetting in Government Supply Chains," to be presented by Babel Street and Carahsoft on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, at 3:00 p.m. Eastern.

• In "Who Stole Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar's Tequila", Joe Lynch and Jessica McFate, Sr. Director of Intelligence Solutions at Babel Street, discuss how national security intelligence methods are now vital for solving commercial theft and securing global supply chains.
• OSINT: The New Tool in Commercial Investigations: Learn how Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT)—the same methodology used to forecast global threats like the rise of ISIS—is now being repurposed to trace and recover high-value commercial assets, such as stolen celebrity tequila, by monitoring online chatter and digital footprints.
• From Counter-Corruption to Corporate Supply Chains: Understand how the principles of counter-corruption and signals intelligence (SIGINT) that Jessica applied during her military deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan are directly relevant to identifying and neutralizing vulnerabilities in modern-day vendor networks and supply chains.
• The Tequila Heist as a Case Study for Organized Crime: Discover how the theft of a high-profile brand like Guy Fieri and Sammy Hagar's tequila is rarely an isolated incident, but often a sign of sophisticated organized criminal enterprises using the dark market, which requires a "mission-grade" approach to identify the true threat actors.
• The Power of AI in Exposing Hidden Identities: Explore how Babel Street's AI-native platform is used to rapidly sift through global, multilingual data to "expose hidden identities" involved in commercial theft, showing that the sheer volume of data makes human-only analysis impossible.
• Forecasting and Pre-Empting Brand Risk: A key lesson is the shift from reacting to theft to predicting it. Learn how intelligence professionals can apply forecasting models to identify and secure distribution choke points or compromised vendor relationships before a high-value product goes missing.
• The Strategic Cost of Reputational Damage: Beyond the physical loss of inventory, the episode highlights the immense brand and reputational risk for celebrity-backed products. The use of advanced risk intelligence is necessary to protect a brand's integrity and consumer trust following a public security failure.
• Bridging National Security and Private Sector Intelligence: The conversation will demonstrate the growing imperative for private companies to adopt the rigor and discipline of national security intelligence methods to secure their operations against global threats, transforming how they approach risk mitigation.

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Babel Street

Guy Fieri reveals new details into the criminals who stole $1M of his tequila

Thieves Steal 24,000 Bottles of Guy Fieri's Tequila in Elaborate Cross-Country Heist

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