cargo crime

Mob Rule: Italian mafia leading source of cargo theft

NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – Todd Moore was playing hockey in Hamilton, Ont., when some guys came forward with 10 cases of Moosehead beer that had “fallen off a truck”. He knew exactly where it had come from, though. Everyone knew. The theft of two loads of beer in New Brunswick had been all over the news, complete with jokes about Moose being on the loose. It was no joke to the career police officer, now president of Canadian Armed Robbery Training Associates. All too many people turn a blind eye to the cost of cargo thefts, he said during a presentation to the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada. Contractors might see a cheap load of lumber as a way to cut costs, just like a chef who’s offered a deal on a load of beef that’s too good to be true. “People don’t see the significance. They say it’s ‘insurance’,” he admitted. “But everybody is paying.”