With cargo theft and organized retail crime (ORC) continuing to escalate, a group of freight, retail, and manufacturing stakeholders has called on Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to take action through congressionally mandated measures.
In a letter to Blanche, the group of 24 stakeholders—including the American Trucking Associations, Association of American Railroads, Intermodal Association of North America, National Retail Federation, DHL, and UPS—emphasized the “urgent need” for DOJ to fully implement funding provided by Congress in the FY2026 Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS) Appropriations Act. The funding would support the establishment of dedicated special prosecutors focused on combating supply chain fraud, organized retail crime, and related financial schemes such as gift card fraud.
“Cargo theft and ORC have escalated dramatically in recent years, affecting freight rail, trucking, retailers, and the broader U.S. economy,” the letter stated. “These crimes are not isolated or opportunistic, but are increasingly carried out by organized, sophisticated criminal networks operating across state and national borders. Through the resale of stolen goods and related monetization schemes, these criminal rings often engage in broader illicit activities, including drug trafficking, money laundering, and terrorism.
“As organized retail crime and supply chain theft grow in scope and complexity, their impacts extend well beyond financial loss, harming retailers, consumers, employees, and communities. These crimes increasingly involve violence, threats, and intimidation that endanger frontline workers and create unsafe conditions in stores, warehouses, transportation hubs, and communities across the country.”
The stakeholders outlined several ways the funding could help curb cargo theft and ORC activity:
- Develop specialized expertise in complex cargo theft, ORC, and related financial fraud cases;
- Strengthen coordination with federal partners such as Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), as well as state and local law enforcement and prosecutors;
- Establish a prosecutorial model that can be replicated nationwide; and
- Deter increasingly sophisticated criminal enterprises exploiting the supply chain
“We strongly urge the Department to move swiftly to implement the FY 2026 funding and to establish this critical enforcement capacity without delay,” the stakeholders wrote. “The continued rise in cargo theft, ORC, and gift card fraud presents a growing threat to workers, consumers, the movement of essential goods, and the broader American economy.”
In comments made before a House Judiciary Subcommittee late last year, ATA President and CEO Chris Spear said brazen thieves are costing the trucking industry approximately $18 million per day. He noted that motor carriers must not only replace stolen products but also absorb higher insurance premiums and invest in new security measures.
“These added expenses put jobs and businesses at risk, and those elevated costs for fleets are felt by consumers at the store,” Spear said. “There is a direct connection between rampant cargo theft and what Americans are paying at grocery stores across the supply chain. Cargo theft is estimated to cost up to $35 billion annually. This is money that belongs in consumers’ wallets, not criminals’ pockets.”
In January, the House Judiciary Committee advanced H.R. 2853, the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act of 2025 (CORCA), through markup.
The legislation was introduced in April 2025 by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who also serves as Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, and Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio). It has bipartisan support and aims to strengthen the nation’s response to organized retail crime involving the theft of goods for resale through physical and online marketplaces.
Key provisions of the legislation, as cited by the Arlington, Va.-based Transportation Intermediaries Association (TIA), include:
- Strengthening federal enforcement by expanding authority under Title 18 of the U.S. Code to more effectively prosecute organized retail and cargo theft;
- Establishing a Crime Coordination Center led by the Department of Homeland Security to facilitate data sharing, intelligence analysis, and joint enforcement efforts targeting retail theft and multimodal supply chain crimes;
- Increasing penalties for cargo theft, particularly for organized theft and fraudulent transport across state or international borders; and
- Enhancing public-private collaboration by improving coordination among federal agencies—including FMCSA—law enforcement, retailers, and transportation providers to prevent theft and disrupt the resale of stolen goods.
- TIA noted that cargo theft costs the U.S. economy up to $35 billion annually, with strategic theft increasing by 1,500% since the first quarter of 2021. As a recent example, it cited a shipment of lobsters valued at more than $400,000 that was stolen while en route to various Costco locations.
Spear said the legislation would equip law enforcement with the tools and legal framework needed to combat what he described as a complex national and international threat. He added that CORCA would centralize data and coordination among federal, state, and local agencies, as well as industry stakeholders, to proactively dismantle schemes orchestrated by transnational criminal groups.
“The theft of cargo is a nationwide problem, and it requires a national solution that brings the fight to organized theft groups,” he said. “CORCA would help safeguard Americans working in our supply chain and protect national security.”
National Retail Federation Vice President of Supply Chain and Customs Policy Jonathan Gold told LM that cargo theft has been around for a while and is part of a bigger trend in organized retail crime, in the form of more coordinated efforts to steal products, sell them for profit, and use those profits for more nefarious crimes, which have increased in stores and warehouses, while attacking the supply chain and financial networks.
Gold added that CORCA marks a good first step in addressing these issues, with 200 bipartisan co-sponsors in the House and close to 45 bipartisan co-sponsors in the Senate.
“[These crimes] don’t just happen in one jurisdiction,” he said. “They’re happening across city Lines, county lines, state lines and international boundaries. What we need is the center to help put it all together, show the big picture, and help provide resources for state and local law enforcement to go after these bigger fish and go after the bigger criminals. A lot of this is being directed by organizations outside the United States, like transnational criminal organizations, so hopefully this effort allows us to put more money and effort into going after those organized rings, because we’re seeing not just a rise in theft of product, but a rise in violence tied to some of these activities as well, which puts our associates at risk, our customers at risk, and our partners at risk. And retailers, it’s not only just working internally on some of these issues, it is also working closely with their transportation providers, especially on kind of the cargo theft side, and making sure they’re using legitimate drivers and legitimate companies for transportation purposes. There’s a lot of things like freight fraud and double brokering and things like that that need to be addressed.”
