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By Keith Goble, Land Line state legislative editor | Friday, February 17, 2017
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Efforts in Mississippi and New Mexico, which are intended to deter the theft of truck, rail or container cargo through stiff punishment, have cleared hurdles.

According to FreightWatch International, Mississippi and New Mexico rank in the top half of states in the number of cargo thefts. Florida, California, Texas, New Jersey and Georgia are in the top five.

Florida, Georgia, New Jersey and Texas are among the states with rules in place that make cargo theft a specific crime with stiff punishment for offenders.

Advocates say that cargo theft by organized crime rings has become a very serious problem across the nation. The FBI says cargo theft causes $15 billion to $30 billion in losses each year.

The Mississippi House voted 109-9 to advance a bill to establish cargo theft as a specific offense and impose felony charges with escalating fines and punishment based on the value of goods.

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, which has about 2,130 members residing in Mississippi, says the legislative effort to deter cargo theft is a reasonable and overdue deterrent intended to better protect the livelihood of the men and women that help drive the economy. 

Mike Matousek, OOIDA director of state legislative affairs, said cargo theft is bad for everyone involved in the supply chain, especially truck drivers.

“When a trucker becomes the victim of theft, it can be financially devastating,” Matousek said. “Such an occurrence could effectively put our members, the majority of whom are single truck owner-operators, out of business.

“The same goes for those involved in seasonal operations as they miss out on a year’s income in a short period of time.”

In an effort to discourage thefts in Mississippi, HB722 calls for offenders to face prison in addition to monetary penalties. Specifically, thieves who steal cargo from trucks loaded with controlled substances, or pharmaceuticals, valued at less than $10,000 would face fines up to $100,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison.

Theft of controlled substances valued up to $1 million could result in as much as 25 years behind bars and/or fines up to $1 million. Loads valued in excess of $1 million could result in prison terms as long as 30 years and/or fines up to $1 million.

Violators of other property heists valued as much as $1,000 would face misdemeanor charges. Theft of cargo valued as high as $10,000 would include fines up to $100,000 and/or 10 years behind bars. Stolen loads valued in excess of $10,000 could result in 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $1 million.

Another provision in the bill covers fifth wheels, and any antitheft locking device attached to the fifth wheel. Any attempt to alter, move or sell a fifth wheel could result in 10-year prison terms and/or $100,000 fines.

The bill awaits assignment to committee in the Senate.

In New Mexico, the Senate Public Affairs Committee has forwarded a bill to establish the theft of trailer or container cargo as a specific offense and impose significant punishment.

The bill, SB74, would authorize second-degree felony charges. Offenders would face up to nine years in prison and fines up to the fair market value of the property stolen and the cost of recovering the property.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Mississippi, click here. For more information on New Mexico legislation click here. 

​Original Article

By  Bob Gatty Editor Convenience Distribution  Convenience Distribution Magazine Online
 

The theft of truckloads of merchandise is much more common than the general public thinks, according to a trucking expert. 

People are talking about these types of thefts following reports that two trailers full of Columbia Sportswear products were stolen early Sunday morning in London.

A pair of transport trucks were first stolen from TriSec Warehousing Ltd. The trucks were then driven to Columbia Sportswear and hooked onto two trailers full of Columbia product at about 5 a.m. Sunday, London police said.

"In this industry, we know it's not the opportunistic criminal that's identifying a whole truckload of merchandise and says: 'Hey, this looks like something fun to steal'," said Jennifer Fox, vice-president of trade and security with the Ontario Trucking Association. "What we have is a very organized criminal element in place."

In this particular case in London, it seems the thieves knew what they were looking for and what they were doing, Fox said in an interview with CBC News.

"What we had is drivers who actually know how to operate a transport truck, which is not an easy thing to do and they also have the necessary network in place to sense those goods — get them to market, get them out of the truck, get rid of them and then ditch the truck somewhere."

Thieves hungry for food products to nabAccording to research of cargo thefts by the Ontario Trucking Association, food products are the number one commodity being stolen, as well as house hold products. The reason? They're easy to off-load and get rid of quickly.

"What the criminals are looking for are anything they can get their hands on and get rid of relatively quickly," she said.

There is also a high demand for food and household items year-round, she said. 



Fox added that cargo theft is also often not reported, making it difficult for her organization to pinpoint how frequently they occur.

"We have, for years, been trying to bring more attention to the issue," she said. "Initially, I think there was hesitation from the trucking industry to start talking about this issue and how often it's happening. There's a real fear about the negative image that can be conjured up by your customers and the public if you seem to be victimized by this."

More trucking companies are, however, coming forward with information about thefts, Fox said. There's a level of frustration in the industry that it seems the criminals are getting more sophisticated in how they operate.

"They have things such as GPS blockers now, so you put a GPS on your trailer and the criminal element can use these GPS blockers and essentially block that signal," she said.

The more the industry discusses the issues, the more comfortable and motivated members feel to stop it, Fox said.

By Patrick McGovern | The Jersey Journal 


More than 10 years ago, Edward Mongon was sentenced to 13 years in prison as the leader of the highly organized "Conrail Boys," theft ring that netted more than $5 million in merchandise stolen from trains passing through North Jersey.

At the time, authorities thought they had ended the gang's 11-year crime spree, having convicted 24 people who they said were members of the gang.

Today Mongon was back in front of a judge, this time one of three men authorities say revived the Conrail Boys cargo theft gang. Four other men and a woman were charged as part of the ring and also appeared in Central Judicial Processing court.

Mongon, 40, of North Bergen, John Forcum, 37, of Parsippany, and Elie Kammo of Union City were charged with having more than $75,000 worth of stolen property in their possession, according to the criminal complaints.

Bail for Mongon and Forcum was set at $100,000 cash or bond; and Kammo's bail was set at $55,000 cash or bond bail by Judge Kelly Austin. Court officials say Forcum has 20 prior arrests in New Jersey. Electronic court records show that Mongon has multiple convictions dating back to the early 1990s.

Others charged today are Jersey City residents Denis Ford, 40, Amparo Diaz-Cruz, 45, Marciano Vazquez and Ramy Darwiche, 25; and Andrez Gonzalez, 56, of Cliffside Park.

It could not be immediately determined when Mongon was released from prison.

At the time of Mongon's sentencing, a spokesman for the state Division of Crimimal Justice called the Conrail Boys an "extensive, well-coordinated criminal cartel" that stole millions of dollars in merchandise and cash from freight trains in North Jersey.

In 2004 authorities described how gang's operation from 1992 to 2003:

Members of the gang would leap onto slow-moving trains and, using bolt cutters and other tools, break into the truck trailers and shipping containers that held merchandise.

The goods were thrown off the train onto the side of the tracks as the train continued moving. Accomplices on the ground gathered the stolen items and moved them to a secret collection point where they were sold to local fences.

Original Article

Interest in the growing logistics demon, commonly known as cargo theft, has risen in recent years accompanied by a significant increase in driver-involved thefts.

A new white paper from the logistics security services provider FreightWatch International reports last year truck cargo theft activity spiked in the final quarter of the year, with a total of 242 reported incidents. It reports driver theft reached an all high in 2013, increasing 76% over 2012 and a whopping 389% jump over 2011.

According to report, trucker theft is typically a crime of opportunity, taking place either directly by the driver, the driver’s voluntary collusion or complicity in the crime, or a deceptive criminal posing as a legitimate carrier resource.

“This growing trend, surreptitious drivers, warrants acute awareness as the shipping industry enters its peak season,” FreightWatch said.

The report also notes the last four months of the year frequently infuse the most risk for truck cargo thefts and is often brought about by the supply and demand put on transportation operations.

“Limitations on available carriers regularly necessitate brokering, as well as re-brokering to the second, third, and sometimes fourth order,” FreightWatch said. “Additionally, high-volume requirements, both in production and shipping, strain workers throughout the supply chain to meet the demands of customers and end-users. This pressure often results in security practices being overlooked or sometimes avoided altogether.”

Original Article 

Zachary T. Sampson, Times Staff Writer

Four years ago, thieves cut a hole in the roof of a military contractor’s warehouse in Hillsborough County and stole 3,000 laptops. It was the largest cargo theft in the county’s history.In 2012, thieves descended through the roof of an Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut and stole $80 million in prescription drugs that eventually were trucked to Florida. 

Four years ago, thieves cut a hole in the roof of a military contractor’s warehouse in Hillsborough County and stole 3,000 laptops. It was the largest cargo theft in the county’s history.In 2012, thieves descended through the roof of an Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut and stole $80 million in prescription drugs that eventually were trucked to Florida. 

ST. PETERSBURG — The best cargo thieves are expert planners. They are patient and precise and pull off million-dollar heists without pulling a gun.


They strike nearly anywhere cargo moves — rest stops, parking lots, warehouses.

Two weeks ago, bandits made off with 18 tons of Crisco from a tow lot in St. Petersburg. At first it was funny. Who needs $100,000 worth of shortening? But the FBI calls cargo theft a $30 billion a year problem, a sobering economic hit that can translate to higher retail prices.

"Cargo theft is a much bigger issue in America than anyone really believes," said Marion County sheriff's Detective Erik Dice, a member of a statewide theft task force.

The thieves particularly like Florida. The state accounted for nearly a quarter of the country's reported cargo thefts between March and May, according to the Florida Department of Transportation. Established rings of Cuban nationals move many of the stolen goods into the Miami area, a port region with ample warehouses and distributors for storing and selling the merchandise, experts said.

Keith Lewis, a vice president with the consultant CargoNet, laughed when told the truck with the missing Crisco ended up in Hialeah, less than 10 miles from Miami.

"I could have predicted that's where the truck was going to wind up," he said. "Empty in Hialeah or next to some fish farm in (nearby) Medley, Fla."

• • •

Cargo thieves target anything they can sell quickly — paper towels, color printers, prescription drugs. They often have buyers lined up in advance.

They will sit outside warehouses or distribution centers watching for patterns, learning which trucks carry what products and where they are going. When the targeted truck leaves the yard, the thieves may slap a GPS tracker on the trailer or simply follow it.

Eventually, a trucker has to stop for coffee or to use the restroom at a rest area. The driver climbs down from the cab, locks up and walks away. Then the thieves move. They break open a door, hot-wire the engine and drive off.

Sometimes the truck drivers are in on the deal and leave their vehicles set up for taking, said Miami-Dade police Sgt. Carlos Rosario, a member of a South Florida cargo theft task force that includes the FBI, the Florida Highway Patrol and other local agencies.

In Florida, many cargo thieves are part of close-knit Cuban theft rings, experts said.

"Cargo theft is an ethnic-based crime, and different crews stay within their groups," Lewis said. That means Cubans in Miami, Armenians in California, and Bosnians, Lithuanians, Russians and Czechs in the Midwest, he said.

In 2011, a group of cargo thieves well-versed in trucking logistics set up a bogus company to target Florida tomato shippers and brokers. The thieves even registered the Miami company with the Motor Carrier Safety Administration, according to reports at the time. They picked up hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of tomatoes and then disappeared.

Theirs was a new twist on cargo theft that Lewis said is increasingly common. Identity fraud is a natural companion to traditional grand theft, and more rings are trying similar fictitious pickups.

Another group pilfered $2.2 million of the cold and flu medicine Mucinex and $550,000 of Similac baby formula. A week after the Crisco caper, 44,000 pounds of Miller High Life was taken from a truck stop in Orange County. Authorities later found the stolen beer in South Florida.

Ed Petow, law enforcement liaison for the consultant FreightWatch International, described the organized rings currently working in Miami as relatively sophisticated. Even the Crisco theft was probably planned, Petow said.

"I don't know what you do with Crisco shortening . . . but obviously somebody's got a market for it," he said.

• • •

Finding stolen cargo is a race against the clock. Reporting the theft is step one, but even that's not always simple. If a trucker was sleeping when a rig was stolen or the truck was parked at a lot overnight, it could take hours before police even know to look for a missing semitrailer.

On some occasions, owners at trucking companies won't report the crime, fearing insurance rates will rise. Instead, they'll work directly with manufacturers and distributors to "just write the check and make the problem go away," Lewis said.

Along the highway, stolen semitrailers look the same as thousands of other trucks. In some cases, thieves drive a couple of hours, unload all the merchandise into another truck or storage space, and ditch the stolen rig.

On store shelves, stolen goods look the same as any other product.

"You can literally hide the stuff in plain sight," Rosario said.

Theft rings usually peddle stolen merchandise below wholesale value, though Rosario said the discount is hard to estimate and depends on the commodity.

Food stolen in Florida will usually remain in the state. Electronics that can be traced or tracked end up in South and Central America, packaged on boats or trucks, said Willie Morales, a former detective who investigated cargo theft for the Miami-Dade Police Department

In the Crisco case, Hialeah police found the stolen truck a day after the theft. The thieves had broken the passenger door and taken the driver's GPS, his food and even a spare container of engine oil, said Nermin Salihovic, owner of NS Express LLC, which hired the driver.

The missing Crisco? The criminals likely sold it to food brokers or independent store owners who like the discounted price and don't ask a lot of questions. The shortening's long shelf-life makes it even more valuable.

"It's being sold right now at mom-and-pop grocery stores, bodegas" around Miami, Lewis said.

"You're not going to see it at Publix," Morales said.

Even if authorities track down the stolen Crisco — something that experts agreed is unlikely — every bit of it may have to be recalled.

"Once these food products are out of the chain, what we call the supply chain, a lot of it has to be destroyed because you really don't know where it's been or how it's been kept," Morales said.

• • •

Cargo thieves do slip up, even in some of the highest-profile heists.

In 2012, a well-trained group descended through the roof into an Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut and stole about $80 million worth of drugs, which eventually were trucked to Florida. Investigators tracked down the thieves behind the record-breaking heist using a water bottle that one of the them had touched at the crime scene.

Four years ago, a cadre of thieves pulled off the largest cargo theft in the history of Hillsborough County. They cut a hole in the roof of a military contractor's warehouse and stole 3,000 laptop computers, then stashed the $7.4 million cache in an abandoned warehouse in Miami. Investigators identified the thieves after finding security footage that showed their getaway car at a nearby McDonald's.

The FDOT credits the formation of the Florida Commercial Vehicle & Cargo Theft Task Force in 2001 with helping cut losses over time. And from August 2013 to August of this year, the Miami-Dade Police Department recovered $5.2 million in merchandise, $138,000 in cash and other goods and about $600,000 worth of trucks and trailers, while also arresting 20 people, Rosario said.

Still, with so much cargo roaming the nation's roads and sitting in warehouses, it's hard to know when and where thieves will strike — just that they will, almost every day.

The crime leads to a rise in overhead costs for companies, which subsequently increases retail prices, putting the load squarely in the pockets of American consumers.

"It obviously affects the economy, whether it's the lack of product on the shelves or it's a rise in insurance rates" for truckers, said Petow of FreightWatch. "It's obviously got to trickle down somewhere."

Contact Zachary T. Sampson at zsampson@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8804. Follow @zacksampson.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

More than 200 cargo theft incidents occurred in the United States in the third quarter of the year, FreightWatch International reported Wednesday.

In the quarter, the organization recorded 194 194 Full-Truckload (FTL) cargo thefts and 14 Last-Mile Courier thefts for a total of 208 incidents in the U.S.

Seventy FTL thefts occurred in July, 76 in August, and 48 in September, and the average loss value per incident during the quarter was $321,521, according to FreightWatch.


Compared with the same quarter of 2013, the volume of thefts declines by 20%; however, the average loss value increased by 104%.

“The average loss-value ceiling continues to rise and illustrates that organized cargo thieves continue to aggressively target high value freight,” the organization said.

Food and drink accounted for 18% of all thefts, the most of any industry during the third quarter of this year, followed closely by electronics, at 17% of all thefts.

With 42 thefts, California was the state with the most incidents, followed by Florida, which accounted for 17% of all thefts.

Original Article

Grace M. Lavigne, Associate Web Editor 

Cargo theft is about to enter its busiest season, and motor carriers, in particular, are advised to be on guard.

According to FreightWatch International, theft activity in the U.S. in 2013 was concentrated in the fourth quarter with a total of 242 incidents. The greatest number of incidents occurred in late September just before the beginning of the holiday shipping season.

The U.S. has also seen a “significant” rise in driver theft incidents, which involve either direct theft by the driver, the driver’s voluntary collusion or complicity in the crime or a deceptive criminal posing as a legitimate carrier resource, FreightWatch said. This method of crime reached an all-time high in 2013, soaring 76 percent from 2012 and 389 percent from 2011.

“This growing trend – surreptitious driver – warrants acute awareness as the shipping industry enters its peak season,” FreightWatch said.

The driver turnover rate ― the rate at which drivers need to be replaced ― was 92 percent at large carriers in the first quarter, according to the American Trucking Associations’ latest quarterly Trucking Activity Report, which is a “huge” disadvantage and security risk to an organization’s supply chain, according to FreightWatch.

“Fictitious pickups continue to be a growing threat in our industry,” the analyst said. “The frequency of fictitious pickups increased sharply from 2011 to 2012, remained relatively constant in 2013, and have resumed a steep upward path during the first two quarters of 2014; 26 fictitious pickups have already been reported this year, totaling over $3.5 million in lost cargo.”

Forty percent of those incidents in 2014 targeted electronics and apparel, FreightWatch said. These low-risk, high-reward incidents continue to be relatively easy for the criminal to organize, while becoming increasingly painful for enterprises to endure. 

The peak season from July to September adds even more risk of cargo thefts to supply chains, as limitations on available carriers often necessitate brokering, according to the report. Logisticians, transporters and security professionals should be aware of the threats, as well as exercise due diligence when sourcing carriers and ensure that all participants in the supply chain comply with industry best practices.

“The organized criminal dedicates an inordinate amount of time to surveillance, preparation and rehearsals; we must dedicate ample resources to proactively combat this growing threat,” FreightWatch said.

From May through July, FreightWatch recorded 179 thefts in the U.S., with 66 thefts in May, 53 in June and 60 in July. The average loss per value per incident during the period was $151,174. Compared with the previous quarter, thefts decreased 12 percent, while the average loss value decreased 35 percent. Food and drinks were the product types most often stolen with 37 thefts or 21 percent of all incidents during the three-month period.

Contact Grace M. Lavigne at glavigne@joc.com and follow her on Twitter: @Lavigne_JOC.


Original Article

ST. PETERSBURG — A semitrailer truck stolen Sunday morning from a towing company was carrying approximately 36,000 pounds of Crisco sticks destined for delivery to a Publix distribution center in Lakeland, according to St. Petersburg Police Department reports.

The truck, a red 2005 Volvo with the Florida license tag 523 93P, had "NS Express LLC, Bowling Green, KY 42104" on both of the cab doors, police said; the trailer was a white Hyundai model with the Florida license tag 445 0PP. They were parked at Coastal Towing, 2390 118th Ave. N, at the time of the theft.

In addition, police said thieves broke into another trailer carrying boxes from the Amazon distribution center in Ruskin. A number of boxes were opened and their contents removed, but it was not immediately known what items were stolen.


Original Article

New report says Chicago remains a hot spot for cargo thefts in Illinois.

Illinois, and more specifically, the Chicago area, just won’t turn loose of its reputation for being one of the truck cargo theft crime capitals in the U.S., according to a new report.

The logistics security services provider FreightWatch International says in the second quarter of this year, Illinois ranked as the state with the fifth highest recorded cargo thefts.

“Illinois is a hotspot for cargo theft activity, particularly in the Chicago area. With theft rates and average values well above the national average within several product types, it is clear that organized cargo theft is active in this area,” the report said.

Examples of this include metals, the fifth most stolen product type since 2010, which is tied with the food/drinks category for the most stolen product type in Illinois during the same time frame.

Another standout is the average value for alcohol/tobacco thefts in the state, which at $773,963 is the highest value of any product type in Illinois, and 246% higher than the national average for this product category of thefts over the same time period.

It also noted auto/parts is the fourth most stolen product type in Illinois, while nationwide it's seventh. Clothing/shoes recorded an average value of $519,000 in the state, just over twice the average value of these thefts nationwide.

While theft of the entire trailer or container is the primary theft type in Illinois, as it is across the nation, with 84.9% in Illinois and 81% nationally, other theft types, such as deceptive pickups, facility burglary and driver theft and hijacking, happen at lower frequency in Illinois than nationally.

Original Article