Beef prices keep climbing. Ranchers squeeze out. Consumers pay more at the checkout. Now the Justice Department turns criminal. Its antitrust division probes large meatpackers for possible anticompetitive moves—price fixing, collusion, bid rigging. This escalation hits after President Trump’s blast last fall. He demanded action against companies he called out for squeezing cattle suppliers while jacking up retail tags. The Wall Street Journal broke the story Monday, citing insiders. Officials had admitted to a beef industry look-see before. But criminal? That’s new. Four giants dominate. Tyson Foods. JBS USA. Cargill. National Beef Packing. Together, they slaughter 85% of U.S. grain-fattened cattle—the prime cuts landing in supermarkets. Ranchers sell into contracts tied to benchmarks. Prosecutors eye if those got twisted. A JBS spokeswoman pushed back: the company knows of no criminal scrutiny and runs in a tight regulatory box. Tyson and others stayed mum.…