MONTREAL — One day last spring, Peel police Det. Mark Haywood executed a search warrant on a property west of Toronto and found a semi-trailer loaded with snowmobiles.
Experts say more old-fashioned methods of theft such as cutting fences at freight yards and hot-wiring semis at truck stops remain popular. But even those acts are often informed by information gleaned from online load boards — sites that connect shippers and carriers — or phishing scams and other hacking methods.
Other newer approaches that rely on “strategic theft,” where criminals effectively trick shippers into handing over their goods, are catching on too. Last April, a thief walked away with $23.8 million in gold and cash from an Air Canada warehouse after presenting phoney documents, according to an October court filing from security firm Brink’s. The incident marked the most notorious example in recent years of a so-called fictitious pickup — using false identification or documents to pose as a legitimate driver in person.
Food inflation over the past two years sparked a commensurate spike in demand for meat and other edible items. “They'll hire a legit trucking company to take it across the border or to the final destination so they don't take the risk of the actual trucking. And then they pick it up on the other end,” said Yusuf.