US Cargo Theft: A 2009 Review

A comprehensive report on Cargo Theft within the United States in 2009.

FreightWatch International, an industry leader in providing cargo theft intelligence through data collection, analysis, and customized reporting, has published its 2009 review of cargo theft within the United States breaking it down by commodity type, date, locations, modus operandi and specific product.

This report, authored by Dan Burges summarizes the United States’ theft data base collected in 2009 and analyzes trends derived from database content, law enforcement information and industry personnel. It also examines observations by personnel in the field.

Here is some of the more interesting content from the report as it relates to pharmaceutical thefts, the complete report can be found at http://www.freightwatchusa.com/.

· In 2009, Freightwatch recorded an average of 72 cargo theft incidents per month, 859 theft incidents total, a 12% increase from 2008.

· By volume, pharmaceuticals represented 5% of the theft incidents in 2009 with 46 reported incidents. This was identical to the 2008 reported number.

· California, Florida and Texas topped the list of high-risk cargo theft states in 2009. Georgia, Illinois and Pennsylvania were in the second top tier of states for cargo theft.

· Even though pharmaceuticals only make up 5% of all cargo theft by volume, the average pharmaceutical theft was valued at $4 million. Even when eliminating the large $37 million theft in one incident in Pennsylvania in 2009, the average pharmaceuticals theft would value $2.5 million, easily surpassing the other commodity groups.

· According to Chuck Forsaith of the Pharma Cargo Security Coalition, his group recorded 16 cargo losses valued over $500,000 in 2008. Of those 16 losses, five were eventually recovered, representing 32% and $16 million. In 2009, his group recorded 15 losses valued at more than $500,000. Of those, there were 10 recoveries, representing 66% and $74.2 million.

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