California has become the hottest of cargo theft hotspots, generally leading almost all reports from companies monitoring the activities of freight thieves.
However, police in one Southern California county put a dent in the efforts of cargo thieves by recently busting 12 people involved in an organized ring,
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced the suspects were recently indicted on federal charges related to shipments being diverted and the cargo sold.
The federal charges include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to C\commit theft from interstate or foreign shipments, and criminal forfeiture.
In a recent news release. the sheriff’s department said between March 2021 and June 2025, members of the organized group acquired or fraudulently used legitimate trucking companies to bid on shipping contracts. Once they took possession of the freight, which the sheriff’s department said included electronics, appliances, and other high-value consumer goods, they diverted and stole the shipments instead of delivering them.
The stolen cargo was later distributed through intermediaries or black-market channels, with an estimated loss in the millions of dollars, according to the statement from the sheriff’s department
The thefts are said to have occurred in multiple locations including San Bernaridno County and elsewhere in California.
The sheriff’s department statement said 12 suspects were indicted. They include:
- Paramvir Singh, age 29, resident of Rancho Cucamonga
- Sandeep Singh, age 31, resident of San Bernardino
- Mandeep Singh, age 42, resident of Bakersfield
- Ranjodh Singh, age 38, resident of Bakersfield
- Gurnaik Singh Chauhan, age 40, resident of Fontana
- Harpreet Singh, age 26, resident of Rancho Cucamonga
- Elgar Hernandez, age 27, resident of Fontana
- Arshpreet Singh, age 27, resident of Rancho Cucamonga
- Bikramjeet Singh, age 27, resident of Sacramento
- Vikramjeet Singh, age 30, resident of Fontana
- Himmat Singh Khalsa, age 28, resident of Renton,Washington
- Narayan Singh, age 27, resident of Fontana
(Singh is the second most common name for Sikh men in India. It translates to “lion”.)
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said it collaborated with FBI- Riverside Inland Violent Crime Supression Task Force, Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Fontana Police Department, California Highway Patrol-CTIP, and several other law enforcement agencies to aide in a federal Indictment.
A recent study by the American Transportation Research Institute found cargo theft costs the trucking industry $18 million each day.
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