Police Talk About New Cargo Thefts
by Alex Lloyd Gross
Philadelphia Police help conference to talk about cargo thefts in the city. Just today, $15,000 in beef was stolen from a parked tractor trailer on the 2800 block of S. 63rd Street. This is not the only time this has happened.
According to police, an organized gang has been breaking into parked tractor trailers while the driver is sleeping. During one robbery, the thieves displayed a gun. “We are working with our federal partners” said Captain Jack Ryan of Northeast Detectives. The reason is it involves interstate commerce.
Captain Ryan said that police have an idea of who is buying the stolen meat. He added that it is not safe to do this, as the trucks have special refrigerators, and they are regulated to keep food at the proper temperature. A guy selling it out of a van or to a secondary market does not care about food safety. If people get sick, they don’t care, as long as they have money.
When looking at cargo thefts as a whole, the amount of them is down, however there have been 11 theft or attempted thefts within the past three weeks. The crimes happened along Red Lion Road or near any food distribution center.
The trucks will park and wait until they are allowed enter the destination to unload the food. Police said they do have security camera footage of some of the thefts. If a truck driver hears a disturbance inside their trailer, Ryan said to call 911 and do not confront the thieves or so not leave your truck to investigate.