Thread: Highway hijackers target truckers' loot

Highway hijackers target truckers' loot

Posted 28m ago
By Bruce C. Smith, The Indianapolis Star

As truck driver Richard Miller curled up to sleep in his cab after a cross-country trip to Indianapolis, two ski-masked men tossed him out of his truck, beat him and drove off with his trailer full of liquor.

The brazen October hijacking of $300,000 worth of scotch and rum intended for an Indianapolis wholesaler is among a growing wave of cargo thefts in Indiana and across the nation.

At least 859 truckloads worth nearly half a billion dollars were stolen in the United States last year, up 12% from 2008, according to logistics security firm FreightWatch International.

Indiana, which is gaining a reputation as a cargo-storage and logistics hub, also has seen a spike in thefts. For each of the past three years, about a dozen semitrailer trucks were reported stolen in the state, up from three in 2006 — though FreightWatch notes that better reporting in recent years might account for some of the increase.

"I don't see many reasons for these thefts to slow down," said Dan Burges of FreightWatch, noting that many have been spurred by the economic desperation brought on by the recession. The wave of highway robberies is causing headaches for trucking companies, which often have to eat the cost of stolen merchandise through higher insurance rates and are increasingly paying to install sophisticated electronic monitoring equipment on their trucks to help track down stolen loads.

Some of the incidents also pose safety concerns for consumers who may unknowingly buy stolen food and medicine that have not been properly stored or refrigerated, experts say.

In Indiana, trailers filled with baby formula, medicine, frozen chicken and energy drinks were swiped last year. Nationally, electronics were the most popular target, accounting for nearly 23% of reported cargo thefts.

"Everybody wants a laptop, cellphone and flat-panel television," Burges said. Such items are often untraceable, he noted, and easy to peddle at flea markets, yard sales, online and to some retailers willing to accept counterfeit paperwork.

Over-the-counter drugs and other pharmaceuticals are a less frequent target but often provide the most valuable payload for cargo hijackers, with some loads worth millions of dollars.

A $37 million load of insulin from Eli Lilly and Co. was stolen in May as it passed through Pennsylvania after leaving the company's Plainfield distribution center, according to FreightWatch.

At the time, Plainfield police suspected a gang of cargo thieves from Miami was checking out Plainfield's warehouse district. In fact, federal authorities blame many of the cargo thefts on gangs from South Florida and Mexican syndicates from Southern California.

It wasn't until the truck filled with Lilly insulin fueled up at a truck stop near Carlisle, Pa., that thieves jumped in and took off.

The driver immediately alerted police, the truck was found abandoned within minutes and the cargo had not been tampered with, authorities said. No arrests were made.

Lilly didn't say whether the truck was electronically monitored.

"The pharmaceutical industry has a deliberate way to share information among pharma companies about cargo theft, which allows the industry to stay up on trends and better protect our shipments as they are transported," said Lilly spokeswoman Lauren R. Cislak. "With this open communication, the industry can work together to reduce the risk of cargo theft."

Plainfield, Ind., was the site of a $30 million insulin heist in 2007, when thieves made off with two trailer loads of products made by Novo Nordisk from a storage lot.

Much of the stolen insulin was eventually recovered in Florida, said Novo Nordisk spokesman Sean Clements. "We have no evidence that any of the stolen product made it into the legitimate (medical) supply chain," he said.

In 2007, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration did not routinely issue public warnings about drugs missing from controlled supply chains. But that policy changed last year as cargo thefts continued to rise.

"These thieves are placing America at risk," said Ilisa Bernstein, director of pharmacy affairs for the FDA. "We do have significant concerns about this increase in cargo thefts."

The FDA issued several warnings to the public last year about 126,000 doses of Novo insulin that were stolen in North Carolina. The truck showed up in Miami.

The trucking industry is fighting back against thieves by equipping most rigs with electronic tracking devices.

Stephen Russell, founder and chairman of Indianapolis-based Celadon, said the thousands of semis used by his company have satellite tracking.

"If a truck has been stolen, the driver calls an 800 phone number, and we can shut the truck (engine) off," he said. "If the truck is outside of its intended route, it will shut off automatically. These are wonderful devices that help us sleep at night."

Sleep wasn't possible, however, for Richard Miller the night he was rousted from his truck by thieves as he waited outside National Wine and Spirits in Indianapolis to make a delivery.

Miller is back at work now after recovering from being pistol-whipped. His truckload of liquor was found in Chicago. And authorities have identified two persons of interest.

But the trucking company that owned Miller's rig isn't resting easy.

"These (thieves) can get pretty gutsy," said Amanda Kreilkamp Kirk, vice president of Wisconsin-based Kreilkamp Trucking. "Because the economy is in a downturn, people will try to get money any easy way."

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/201 ... jack_N.htm

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