Apparently, some thieves are going back to the old Wild West-style train robberies outside both the busy ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
The robberies have delayed retail shipments of everything, this includes items like at-home Covid-19 tests, fishing lures, and parcels from Amazon, REI, and UPS, Forbes reported.
Union Pacific reported that the thefts had targeted its trains at an increase of 160% within the past year in Los Angeles County. There‘s currently an average of 90 containers broken into daily over the last three months.
The company estimate that the burglaries have cost $5 million of either damage, losses, and/or claims.
Trains are considered an easy target among thieves along the so-called Alameda Corridor, which is a 20-mile stretch of railbed that goes through Los Angeles’ lower-income neighborhoods and is easily accessible.
Thieves can break into stopped or slow-moving cars. Thieves can also pull a hand brake that then sensors in the track read, causing an equipment breakdown that causes the train to stop or slow to a crawl. Individuals then use bolt cutters to open up cars and remove items quickly. The items they choose not to steal, are left on the sides of the track.
In a tweet posted by a CBSLA photojournalist, ampules that are associated with medical tests can be seen in the trash.
The recent robberies are contributing to a global supply chain that has been broken down during the pandemic, with millions of shoppers suffering from the results, down to shortages and delays on everything from refrigerators to books to Covid-19 tests.
Nearly 40% of goods shipped into the U.S. come through the adjacent ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, which happens to be the largest in the Western Hemisphere.
“Railroads are extremely concerned about this unlawful and dangerous behavior, which poses a significant safety risk to the public, rail employees, and law enforcement,” said Jessica Kahanek, a spokeswoman for the Association of American Railroads in Washington.
“Railroads and their police forces are taking action to combat the criminal activity including increasing their presence where thefts have been a persistent challenge, particularly in the Los Angeles area.”
Union Pacific uses its own private police force that protects the 275 miles of track. The company has increased the number of agents placed on the ground amid the holiday season.
However, the company still requested local authorities help intervene in what it says is a “spiraling crisis of organized and opportunistic criminal rail theft” in a December letter to the Los Angeles district attorney.
It cited lenient sentencing laws as one reason for the crimes, saying that even when offenders are arrested, their charges are often reduced to misdemeanors or petty offenses.
“Criminals boast to our officers that there is no consequence,” says Union Pacific spokesperson Robynn Tysver.
At-home Covid-19 tests are already scarce amid the surge of the Omicron variant.
Americans are taking an average of about 3 million tests a day, a pandemic-era record that is six times the amount from last summer, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Coronavirus Resource Center.
The at-home tests are frequently out of stock on sites like Amazon, and CVS and Walgreens have limited amounts.
“We ask that our customers please show patience and understanding,” John Standley, the president of Walgreens, said in a statement.
Keep hearing of train burglaries in LA on the scanner so went to #LincolnHeights to see it all. And… there’s looted packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPS boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains. @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/JvNF4UVy2K
— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022
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