Legislation would coordinate law enforcement response to cargo theft

WASHINGTON – Railroads and retailers are praising a bipartisan bill in Congress that aims to reduce cargo theft.

The Combating Organized Retail Crime Act, which was introduced yesterday, would create a coordinated federal response to a rising wave of sophisticated cargo thefts, many of which target consumer goods in containers carried on double-stack trains.

“Organized criminal operations continue to evolve and escalate their targeted attacks against our nation’s supply chain and retailers,” Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement on Thursday. “This alarming trend affects every industry — including the nation’s largest railroads, which experienced a 40% spike in cargo theft last year.”

The AAR says the bill would provide the framework necessary to disrupt criminal networks and safeguard supply chains. Specifically, it would enhance federal law enforcement tools and establish a centralized coordination center that would bring together federal, state, and local law enforcement as well as railroad police to counter organized theft operations.

Both the frequency and tactics of cargo theft attempts have rapidly evolved and escalated from what once was a crime of opportunity to one that cost the industry more than $100 million last year, the AAR says. Today, rail cargo thefts are calculated, coordinated and executed by sophisticated perpetrators often with links to domestic and transnational organized crime groups.

Because thieves often bring trains to a stop by disconnecting brake system air hoses, the thefts pose operational hazards, the AAR says.

The rail industry estimates suggest that over 65,000 thefts occurred against the Class I railroads in 2024. Nike shoes have been a frequent target.

“Whether stealing mass quantities of products from retail stores or hijacking consumer goods throughout the supply chain, these gangs are wreaking havoc. And these criminal rings use the profits from retail theft to support larger illicit activities such as human trafficking, gun smuggling, narcotics, and terrorism,” said Michael Hanson, senior executive vice president, public affairs at the Retail Industry Leaders Association. “In order to expose and prosecute these sophisticated criminal rings, we need federal, state and local law enforcement to be coordinated, which is exactly what CORCA will do.”