Florida a hotbed of cargo theft

It's a multibillion-dollar industry. Those in the field work long hours in carefully chosen teams organized by well-known, influential leaders. It might be considered a growth industry, if it weren't illegal.

Cargo thefts — at times massive heists involving millions of dollars in stolen wares — are on the rise nationwide, and Florida has become a major hub for stolen goods and home to some of the nation's most daring thieves.

Experts struggle to define the true extent of cargo theft's impact nationally. But one thing is clear: Each year, hundreds of high-dollar heists are pulled, some with militarylike precision that resembles a scene from "Ocean's Eleven."

These thefts can damage businesses, threaten jobs and impact prices on the consumer level.

And according to local and national experts, the heists are not isolated incidents or even a trend. They're part of a cargo-theft culture, made up of interconnected groups of mostly professional criminals who are experts in their trade.

------

It was also the biggest recorded heist in the state in five years, according to FreightWatch International, a cargo-security provider that tracks cargo-theft statistics. According to FreightWatch, 117 cargo-theft incidents were reported in the Sunshine State in 2010, and more than 500 in the past five years.

Experts say South Florida is where much of the cargo heisted on the Eastern Seaboard winds up — often in transit to Central or South America. It's also where many of the groups who perpetrate these crimes are based.

South Florida is also home to the Tactical Operations Multi-Agency Cargo Anti-Theft Squad, better known as TOMCATS, considered among the nation's elite task forces targeting cargo theft.

Based out of the Miami-Dade Police Department, TOMCATS represents a partnership of local, state and federal agencies, including the FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Florida Department of Transportation, among others.

Read the full article here