HOUSTON—Every night, DFS Worldwide moves upwards of a half-million tons of cargo through its north Houston warehouse.
It’s a high-value business. Small wonder it’s targeted by criminals.
"The two biggest areas where they steal from are, number one, from truck stops. And number two, from the carrier facilities themselves," Fred Fontana of DFS Worldwide said.
Fontana should know. Someone recently stole a 53-foot trailer filled with freight from his warehouse. Three months earlier, a thief ran off with nickel pipe valued at $800,000.
"Within 15 minutes of the driver leaving that facility, he stopped at a truck stop. He was going to get fueled up, ready to go, went inside, was probably there 20 minutes, came out and the whole rig was gone," Fontana said.
Hundreds of truckloads hauling close to a half-billion dollars worth of merchandise were stolen in the U.S. in 2009 alone.
That’s a staggering 67-percent increase from 2008.
The thieves are bold and swift, oftentimes hot-wiring trucks and swiping the cargo from truck stops in less than 90 seconds.
"The shippers have great security at their locations, many times. But what happens is when that product comes out and is in a truck, it’s at the biggest risk," J.J. Coughlin of the Southwest Transportation Security Council said.
And just what are the thieves after?
Officials say everything from shipments of food and beverages, to electronics, to pharmaceuticals, to metals.
In Houston, they’re also after building supplies.
"You’re going to find that the criminals are very organized. They’re actually very patient. And they’re very good at what they do," Coughlin said.
The stolen cargo is rarely recovered. Most of it is shipped overseas through the Port of Houston or by land through the U.S. Border, located a mere five hours south of Houston.
Foreign officials say there’s no way of telling whether the trucks carrying cargo across the border are carrying stolen goods.
"I know it’s coming from the United States, but once it’s in Guatemala, there’s no way of knowing where it goes," Ottoniel Barraza of the Guatemala National Civil Police said.
"It would make it easier if we had our good friends to the south with real-time information exchanged on both sides of the river, and that’s exactly what they’re trying to do," HPD Sgt. T.J. Salazar said.
Stopping the thefts was a key focus of this week’s Transborder International Police Conference, where Houston played host to law enforcement agencies from the U.S. Canada, Mexico and the Americas.
Given the criminals’ determination and the millions of dollars involved, there’s no single solution to the problem.
"The crooks who steal it? They’re willing to take 10 cents on the dollar. But 10 cents on the dollar on a $2 million load is not a bad day," Coughlin said.
At Fontana’s warehouse, it costs five times more now to insure cargo than it did five years ago.
"We push insurance much more with our clients now – especially high-end. We do," Fontana said. "If the driver happens to own the rigs, which they do in a lot of America, they actually own the tractors. When they take their tractors and it’s stolen, most of the time, if that’s his sole means of income, he’s declaring bankruptcy."
It’s an added expense that’s putting thousands of drivers – and often, small businesses – out of work.
"It hurts the economy. It really does," Fontana said.
And it’s all because of precious cargo that thieves are desperate to get their hands on.
