Cargo theft in the United States has entered a new and lucrative phase, with criminals increasingly targeting shipments of high-value technology used in artificial intelligence and data centers. According to reporting by the Washington Post, thieves who once focused on items such as cigarettes, energy drinks and sneakers are now stealing advanced computer chips, graphics cards and memory modules worth millions of dollars.
One case last summer illustrates the scale and precision of these crimes. Shortly after midnight in July, a thief waited until workers had left a warehouse in Reno, Nevada, before pulling into an empty parking lot. Moving quickly, the driver backed his truck cab up to a plain white 53-foot trailer, attached it and drove away, disappearing before security cameras could capture useful images.
The operation took just 14 minutes.
Inside the trailer were about $9.5 million worth of products from Apple and another $6 million in computer chips produced by Advanced Micro Devices. According to police reports cited by the Washington Post, investigators later found the trailer’s GPS tracking device discarded near Interstate 80 with its wires ripped out. Two weeks later the empty trailer was recovered roughly 280 miles away in California. The stolen technology has never been found.
Cases like this are becoming increasingly common. Losses from cargo theft surged 60 percent last year in the United States, reaching a record $725 million, according to the theft prevention firm Verisk CargoNet. The number of incidents remained relatively stable at roughly 3,600 annually, meaning the value of the stolen goods has increased dramatically.
Experts say the change reflects a shift in what criminals are targeting. The modern supply chain is moving enormous volumes of high-value technology components to support artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data centers across the country. Those shipments have become irresistible targets.
Keith Lewis, vice president at CargoNet, told the Washington Post that cargo theft tends to follow supply chain demand. When certain products begin moving rapidly through logistics networks, thieves quickly identify them as profitable targets.
“It’s a push-pull thing,” Lewis explained. “Whatever is being pulled through the supply chain at high speed, that’s what the bad guys are stealing.”
In today’s economy, that means technology.
The rise of artificial intelligence has created intense demand for specialized hardware, including high-speed RAM modules, graphics processing units and server racks used in massive data centers. These components are small, extremely valuable and relatively easy to transport, making them ideal targets for organized crime groups.
Recent thefts highlight the trend. In one case last month, a trailer carrying $1.5 million worth of computer graphics cards disappeared from Fullerton, California, while en route to Columbus, Ohio. In December, another trailer containing $3.1 million worth of hard drives vanished before reaching Mesa, Arizona, a city that hosts data centers operated by companies such as Meta.
Authorities say some criminal groups appear to specialize in stealing high-value technology shipments. Last summer in Fremont, California, a group suspected of targeting computer hardware stole nearly $200,000 worth of Nvidia chips.
Law enforcement officials say the number of investigations remains steady, but the value of the stolen cargo continues to grow.
Sgt. Andrew Barclay of the California Highway Patrol, which operates a specialized cargo theft unit, said authorities regularly receive cases involving expensive technology shipments.
The true scale of the problem may be far larger than official numbers suggest. Cargo theft is not consistently categorized under a single crime category, meaning incidents may be recorded as stolen vehicles or property crimes instead.
Scott Cornell, a transportation risk analyst and chairman of the Transported Asset Protection Association, estimates that the actual financial losses from cargo theft may be ten to fifteen times higher than the official figures.
The lack of reliable data partly reflects the complexity of the logistics industry. A single shipment may involve multiple companies, including manufacturers, freight brokers, trucking firms, warehouses and insurers. When something goes wrong, responsibility is often disputed.
Companies also worry that publicizing thefts could damage their reputations or attract further criminal attention.
The targeting of technology shipments began during the COVID-19 pandemic, when disruptions in manufacturing and shipping created shortages of electronics. At the time, criminals stole items such as televisions, gaming systems and cryptocurrency mining equipment.
Now the focus has shifted toward hardware powering artificial intelligence systems.
Danny Ramon, an executive at the supply chain security firm Overhaul, said criminals are focusing on what he describes as “cost density” — products that pack extremely high value into a small amount of space.
Technology hardware fits that description perfectly. A single trailer filled with computer components can contain tens of millions of dollars in goods.
Organized criminal networks have also become increasingly sophisticated in how they execute these thefts.
In one case prosecuted by federal authorities, a group operating in the Midwest targeted distribution facilities connected to major technology companies. The criminals conducted surveillance on trucking routes and followed trucks carrying valuable cargo. When drivers stopped for fuel or rest breaks, the thieves stole the entire tractor-trailer.
They would then abandon the stolen truck but keep the trailer, attaching it to their own vehicle and disguising it by repainting logos and replacing license plates.
Six members of that group were eventually convicted, with the final defendant receiving a prison sentence of more than 13 years.
But many modern cargo thefts rely less on physical force and more on deception.
Industry officials say criminals increasingly infiltrate supply chains by creating fake trucking companies or falsified logistics documents. Using fraudulent bills of lading and fake pickup orders, thieves can sometimes gain access to shipments without raising suspicion.
In these cases, everything appears legitimate until the cargo never arrives at its destination.
One particularly dramatic example occurred in September when a man appeared at a shipping company in Salt Lake City posing as a truck driver assigned to haul a trailer to El Paso, Texas. Investigators still do not know how he inserted himself into the shipping arrangement, but the company allowed him to take the load.
The driver even agreed to have his phone tracked, a precaution often used for valuable shipments. The GPS signal went dark about an hour outside El Paso.
Days later, authorities discovered the trailer abandoned in Irwindale, California, near the Port of Long Beach, one of the world’s busiest shipping hubs.
The cargo was gone.
Inside the trailer had been 40 artificial intelligence server racks and more than 108,000 memory modules used in data centers. According to an industry alert cited by the Washington Post, the stolen hardware was valued at approximately $31 million.
Investigators are still searching for those components.
For law enforcement and supply chain experts, the case underscores a growing reality. As artificial intelligence expands and billions of dollars in specialized hardware move across highways and ports, the criminal world has adapted quickly.
In the modern cargo theft economy, the most valuable target is no longer a pallet of consumer goods. It is the hardware powering the digital infrastructure of the future.
