York cops lasso $1.5m in cargo theft

York cops arrested four men for stealing loads from tractor-trailers and selling the freight. Cops recovered $1.65m worth of vehicles and goods in Project Copperhead, an investigation into cargo thefts throughout the GTA. Five search warrants were executed. Items recovered included eight stolen tractor-trailers as well as six full cargo loads and other vehicles. Paramjeet Singh, 23, of Vaughan, Sameer Rathaur, 21, of Brampton, Atif Heral, 43, of Toronto, and Asif Rasool, 48, of Mississauga face 18 charges. Cargo theft is a low risk, high reward crime. Cargo theft in North America rose by 15% in 2022, equal to 1778 recorded thefts. Theft of at least one heavy commercial vehicle increased by 17%.

This stolen truck was used to steal $300k worth of equipment in 2021.

Fictitious cargo pickups have increased 600% in 2022. Fictitious cargo pickup relies on subcontracting the shipment to a legitimate carrier and having the shipment misdirected to another address. These pickups mostly occurred in California but are spreading.

The average value of cargo stolen was $214,104.