TOMCATS to the Rescue

What are TOMCATS?

They are the Tactical Operations Multi-Agency Cargo Anti-Theft Squad. The 36-member TOMCATS is the nation's largest cargo-theft task force. They have arrested 617 people and recovered over $117 million in stolen goods since 1998.

Here's a tale from the TOMCATS case files:

Last September, five Miami-area men drove a rented van to North Carolina, staying in a motel near a cigarette distribution center. The following day, just after noon, they began following an 18-wheeler, until it stopped at a West Virginia rest area.

Seconds after the driver left the cab, and while one thief watched his movements, another smashed a window, and a third thief hot-wired the truck. An expert hijacker, he had it running in seconds. (He was out of jail on bond at the time, in connection with the theft several months earlier of a load of cigarettes in Georgia.)

As the crooks drove away, one ripped a tracking device out of the cab. They were stopped by the West Virginia state police and arrested.

But when the thieves do get away, the goods are usually sold within 24 hours. The thieves immediately call a middleman, or broker, who issues a list of stolen merchandise.

In some cases, the cargo thieves do not know what they have until they open the doors.

While the truck is en route, sometimes the broker will set up a deal with a buyer. By the time they reach their destination, the driver knows what warehouse to take it to so that it can be unloaded into containers for shipment.

The brokers and buyers avoid any contact with the stolen goods. Once the deal is done, each party gets a percentage of the sale.

In some cases, goods do end up in a warehouse for several days, which is risky for the cargo thieves. That was the case in February 2002, when TOMCATS agents raided a Miami warehouse and discovered $1.3 million in goods stolen in four trailer heists.

Agents found $169,000 worth of air conditioners stolen in South Carolina; $76,000 worth of sportswear from Hialeah Gardens; $77,000 worth of Mitsubishi air conditioner parts from Georgia; and $1 million in cigarettes from Boca Raton. Five men were arrested afterward.

Often thefts are "give-ups," in which the trucker sets up a deal with thieves and intentionally leaves the trailer where it can be stolen. Recently, the thieves have begun using false identification to pick up containers at railroad yards.

Members of Miami's cargo-theft ring have been arrested all over the United States.

A senior detective with BAD-CATS, the Los Angeles Police Department cargo-theft squad - said in the last several years he has arrested more and more suspects from the Miami-Dade County area.

"Especially when it comes to cigarettes, we are seeing more and more loads ending up here," said Zavala, who has been a member of the Burglary Auto Division Criminal Apprehension Team since about 1990.

The cigarettes show up in many states like California and New York because, with their higher taxes, the black market smokes can sell for much more there than in, say, North Carolina, which has the nation's lowest cigarette tax.

Las Vegas police are also seeing more cargo thefts by people from Miami.

A New York Police Department detective and head of the Safe Loft and Truck Squad, said many heists there involve people from Latin America, especially Ecuador and the Dominican Republic, and others with ties to Miami.

"This ring is not like the Mafia, with a boss and underboss," a TOMCATS source said. "It is a loosely knit network and no loyalty issues. If someone wants to change groups, there's no problem. They work separately but are not dedicated to working in just one group."

With so many thousands of registered interstate motor carriers moving a huge percent of the nation's freight, the opportunity for theft is at an all-time high.