Dozens of freight cars are broken into every day in Los Angeles by thieves who take advantage of their stops to loot the packages they carry, leaving thousands of stale boxes and internet-bought goods on the tracks that will never reach their destination.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
While smash-and-grab robberies still happen, organized cargo theft is becoming more prevalent.
Cargo theft has surged up 57% compared to 2022, with industry leaders calling thieves “emboldened.”
The Wall Street Journal identified Nike shipments as one of the most commonly targeted for theft.
As the country began recovering from the coronavirus pandemic, smash-and-grab robberies made national headlines as high-profile incidents rocked California, with thieves targeting stores like Louis Vuitton, Best Buy, and Nordstrom.
Now, a new type of organized crime is making waves in the retail sector: thieves targeting cargo shipments and misdirecting massive deliveries away from their intended recipients.
According to statistics by CargoNet, this type of theft in the US and Canada has surged 57% this quarter compared to last year’s statistics, with perpetrators walking away with over $44 million in stolen shipments in Q2 alone.
The thieves use stolen credentials from logistics brokers or falsified pickup addresses to pull off elaborate schemes, sometimes getting away with entire loaded trailers — and “criminal enforcement for such cases is complex and rare, which has emboldened organized groups,” per CargoNet.
The average shipment value per incident also increased, by nearly $100,000, to an average loss of $260,703 per theft as cargo thieves have focused on high-value shipments.
The Wall Street Journal reported one type of shipment is particularly popular with thieves: Nikes. The outlet reported Los Angeles authorities in June recovered $3 million worth of goods stolen from the athleticwear brand, including boxes of an unreleased style of the NOCTA x Nike Glide — a collaboration between the shoe giant and hip-hop star Drake that sells for $160 a pair.
Nike products are stolen at every phase of the supply chain, WSJ reported, from distribution centers and warehouses to the delivery trains and trucks tasked with getting them into the hands of consumers.
Limited edition Air Jordans and other select styles are particularly valuable on the resale market, raking in sums hundreds of dollars above their retail price.
Representatives for Nike and CargoNet did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
In part due to their proximity to major shipping ports, California, Texas, Florida, and Illinois see the most frequent rate of such thefts, per CargoNet, but incidents are being reported across the country.
Despite personal spending being on an uptick, according to CNBC News, retailers continue to navigate a new consumer landscape with more buyers turning toward e-commerce — and some are closing their doors entirely to try to mitigate loss.
Walmart has closed stores in Chicago, Portland, and Albuquerque this year, while Target shuttered locations in Minneapolis, Philadelphia, and the DC area, Insider previously reported.
“We’ve seen stores that are completely shutting down their business and moving out of the communities that we service,” Nick Stewart, a detective with the Los Angeles County sheriff’s department, told WSJ. “That’s not good.”