Cargo theft costs U.S. businesses some $25 billion a year, according to a Florida police officer involved in catching criminals who steal freight.

Lt. Tom Bib, an officer in Florida's Marion County Sheriff's Department, said the annual losses from cargo theft exceed those from other, better-publicized crimes such as bank robberies and identity theft. Bib made his remarks last month at the 30th annual Transportation Consumer Protection Council meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Criminals view cargo theft as a low-risk, high-profit crime, Bib said. Because the owner of the merchandise in a stolen trailer often does not live in the jurisdiction where the theft takes place, he said, it's perceived as a "victimless" crime.

But cargo stolen from a truck trailer can yield high profits for thieves. Bib noted that a semi-trailer of stolen tobacco products, for example, can net $1.5 million. Besides cigarettes, thieves frequently target trucks carrying computers, electronics, fashion apparel, cosmetics, frozen meat, and truck and automobile tires.

Thieves often target truck stops, waiting for drivers to leave their trailers parked and unattended. The criminals then unhitch the trailer from its rig, attach it to another cab, and pull the trailer to another location to unload its contents. Bib noted that thieves tend to steal unmarked trailers parked in an opportune location with quick access to a major highway.

Speaking on the same panel, Lt. Ed Petow of the Miami Dade Police Department noted that cargo thieves are extremely knowledgeable about shippers' operations. "They could teach a course in transportation and logistics," he observed.

They also can get past many of the security measures shippers normally take, he said, adding that thieves know 20 ways of breaking seals on trailers. To secure trailer doors and deter theft, Bib recommended, shippers should invest in sturdy kingpin locks.

To curb freight theft, lawmakers need to raise the penalties for such crimes, Bib said. In Florida, he noted, legislation has been proposed to make stealing cargo valued at more than $50,000 a first-degree felony.

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