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cargo investigators, working for insurers,
The Travelers Companies, are deploying a
truck with a "sting trailer" to
catch cargo thieves, who the FBI says cause
US$15 billion to $30 billion in losses every
year.
Somewhere
in America, the tractor-trailer loaded with
hidden surveillance equipment is parked
at a truck stop or warehouse while authorities
wait for thieves to steal it, reports The
Associated Press.
"It's
like fishing," said investigator DZ
Patterson. "You've got your worm in
the water, but there are hundreds of other
worms out there. They have to pick yours."
The
classic problem with cargo theft, or pilferage
or pillage, is that when the theft is discovered,
with a missing box or crate of cameras,
it is nearly impossible to determine where
it occurred, much less who done it.
Picture
a shipment of electronics from Chongqing,
which turns, up 20 boxes short at a distribution
centre in Savannah, Georgia month later.
The first question is where did the theft
occur, but before we can answer that we
must know where the cargo has been.
In
this hypothetical case it left China on
an overland rail journey through Kazakhstan,
through Russia, Belarus, Poland and Germany
where it taken by ship to Savannah, where
the theft was discovered.
But
was it stolen at the Chinese factory, or
by bands of nomadic thieves known to board
and break into containers in central Asian
and Russia? Or did the theft happen where
the containers must change rolling stock
to accommodate the Russian rail gauge or
later on when that had to done again to
accommodate the EU gauge?
Or
was it the trucker going to Hamburg, or
the docker there or the one of the in Southampton
or Le Havre where the ship called before
heading to Norfolk, Charleston and finally
Savannah.
Even
with the United States, it is next to impossible
to know where such thefts occur and who
the culprits are. That's why the Travelers
"sting trailer" provides an ability
to strike back and the constant scourge
of cargo thieves plaguing the supply chain.
Law
enforcement and the insurance industry are
fighting back by tempting thieves with "sting
trailers" laden with cameras and GPS
tracking devices, hidden within both the
trailers and the inventory they contain.
FreightWatch
International, an Austin, Texas security
company, says thieves prefer nondescript
trailers that would be hard to identify
after being stolen, so it's best if a brand
name or distinctive markings are emblazoned
on the sides.
Hidden
cameras have recorded which locks are problematic
for crooks, leading anti-fraud specialists
to recommend truck owners install the highest-tech
locks. And it's best to hide GPS tracking
systems, because the criminals know how
to disable them.
Travelers'
sting trailer was developed in 2008 at the
company's Windsor, Connecticut, lab and
is equipped with $100,000 worth of surveillance
gear. Law enforcement agencies nationwide
have used it hundreds of times, resulting
in dozens of arrests.
"The
purpose is to assist law enforcement in
targeting organised cargo rings," said
investigator Scott Cornell. "Every
time the sting trailer breaks up a ring,
everyone in supply chain in that area benefits."
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