Cargo thefts up 41% in first half of 2023

Cargo theft is on the rise. Stolen shipments in and around airports increased 41% in the first five months of 2023 compared with last year, according to data compiled by CargoNet , a Verisk company. The statistics come one month after $14.8 million in gold and other commodities were stolen from a warehouse at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ). The case remains unsolved, Canadian authorities said. “ The investigation is ongoing, and we have no further details to provide at this time,” a media spokesperson from the Peel Regional Police in Ontario told Air Cargo Next . Cargo offloaded from a plane that arrived at YYZ on the evening of April 17, was stolen from a warehouse after being transported following normal procedures, Peel Regional Police told Air Cargo Next at the time. Law enforcement officials were alerted shortly thereafter, but there were no leads. Targeted theft The gold heist was unusual because it was likely a targeted attack and one not traditionally considered to be cargo theft , Scott Cornell , vice chair of the Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) and transportation lead and crime & theft specialist , Travelers Inland Marine, told Air Cargo Next. “What I would tell you on that as a cargo theft expert, I don't really see it as a part of [cargo thefts],” Cornell said. “A theft like that is a targeted theft. They knew what they were going after. ... Don't get me wrong, cargo theft is targeted too. If they want to go after electronics, they go after electronics; if they want to go after food and beverage, they go after food and beverage. But this scenario doesn't really fall into what we see every day [with] cargo thefts.” Daily pilfering of cargo, particularly food and beverages, household items and electronics, is more usual, according to the CargoNet report. Those shipments account for the top three categories of stolen cargo in the last three years – with California, Texas and Florida being among the most targeted regions in 2022. [caption id="attachment_57136346" align="alignleft" width="351"] (Credit: CargoNet)[/caption] The data collected and interpreted by CargoNet is done through open source and voluntarily released incidents by various companies, Cornell said. The numbers are fairly accurate, but they could also be higher, and thefts have increased, he said. The 2022 CargoNet annual report was based on 1,778 incidents. Its latest report shows 900 incidents of theft, fraud and criminal activity. The losses in 2022 account for just over $223 million. ‘Highly organized’ Because airports and seaports are typically protected by varying degrees of security, they are not hotspots for criminal activity, Cornell said. Cargo thefts generally occur when security is weakened – such as a ground handler stopping for a lunch break, leaving a parked vehicle with a large shipment inside. Those scenarios are more common for theft, he said. Unlike the sophisticated operations seen in the “Ocean’s Eleven” films, cargo criminal rings are much simpler, Cornell said. But they are organized, he added. "Most cargo theft is committed by organized rings. When people ask me, is this organized crime? My answer is always ‘yes,’” Cornell said. “It's not the organized crime that we capture a lot from movies and things like that, but it is in essence, meaning they are organized rings, they know the supply chain very well, they know the transportation industry very well and they know how it works.” Knowing how the supply chain works means cargo thieves also understand that there has been a significant shift to digital tracking and monitoring of goods, so the very technologies that make the industry more efficient could also be working against it, Cornell said. Criminals will use double brokering schemes, strategic cargo theft, identity theft and fictitious pickups to drive their operations, he said. “The process that the industry has put in place for moving freight is the same process that the cargo thieves will take advantage of,” Cornell said. “They use the very load boards and the email and the communication techniques that are used across the transportation industry in order to commit those steps. So the process that the industry has put in place for moving freight is the same process that the cargo thieves will take advantage of. They are very organized; they know what they are doing.” Editor's note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct title for Scott Cornell.

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