For months, thieves have been robbing cargo containers aboard trains approaching downtown Los Angeles, California. Every day, dozens of freight cars are broken into, leaving gutted boxes that will never make it to their destinations. The packages are from Amazon, Target, UPS, and FedEx, according to the tags discovered.
Thieves wait for the long freight trains to come to a halt on the tracks before climbing aboard the cargo containers. They discard products that are difficult to transfer or resell, or that are too cheap, such as COVID-19 kits. Since December 2020, thefts at Union Pacific have increased by 160 percent in Los Angeles County.
The crimes grew in recent months, according to research. Major US mail order and courier companies such as Amazon, Target, UPS, and FedEx are the main targets. Since January 1, more than 90 containers have been vandalized every day. Since the growth in Christmas shopping in late December 2021, the number of cases has increased.
Union Pacific claims it has beefed up surveillance measures. Thereby, including drones and other detecting systems, and hiring more security personnel for its tracks and convoys, to combat the trend. In the last three months of 2021, police and security personnel detained over 100 persons for trespassing and vandalizing Union Pacific trains.