Investigators told the outlet the thieves use digital tricks, including GPS spoofing (faking location signals), to target shipments of servers, fiber-optic cables, memory chips, copper wire and bitcoin mining machines.
Typically, they hack freight brokers' accounts on shipment-listing sites, post fake shipments to attract bids, and send malicious links to responding trucking companies.
Once a victim clicks, the thieves install software to take over the account and bid on real loads, sometimes hiring an unwitting driver and sometimes placing accomplices with fake driver's licenses.
Two Illinois trailers recovered by the Cook County Sheriff's Office held an estimated $300,000 in copper wire spools and about $1 million in custom power equipment.
In two of the largest cases, worth $13 million and $10 million, none of the equipment was found, and off-duty police hired as escorts were hit by vehicles so the trailers could drive away.
Private investigator Gerardo Pachuca said the crash "was not an accident." Keith Lewis of Verisk CargoNet, which tracks cargo theft, likened the loads to "pure gold bars."
Stolen shipments are often not sold on online marketplaces, investigators said. Instead, they can be broken into parts and sold on gray markets, sometimes to overseas buyers already lined up, including in places like China where access to high-end US technology may be restricted. Mixed loads are also being hit, such as a Los Angeles County case involving cooling equipment for Deepcool AI alongside televisions, shoes and cosmetics, so experts worry consumers may be affected too. Scott Cornell of TAPA Americas, a supply chain security group, said the scheme depends on drivers not being properly vetted. States have formed task forces, lawmakers are exploring stronger federal responses, and escort firms such as Solutions Group International say they are guarding hundreds of loads a month, much of it tied to data centers.