American criminals who specialize in cargo theft have begun stealing equipment used in artificial intelligence data centers—from server switches to cooling systems. Organized criminal groups use sophisticated tactics such as repairing accidents, impersonating legitimate operators and manipulating GPS signals.
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Unidentified people clashed with security vehicles accompanying a truck while transporting goods in California, an expert said. When the escort vehicle left the route, the truck continued traveling but never reached its destination—neither the driver nor the equipment being transported could be found. There is a version that the truck driver was involved, but the case has not been resolved. These crimes occur as the United States is actively building artificial intelligence data centers – which use expensive accelerators, servers, switches, optical equipment and cooling system components. All are transported via traditional logistics services, with security measures often at odds with the value of the goods. Analysts say the number of road thefts has fallen by 26% in the past quarter, but the value of items stolen has more than doubled.
In April, 34,560 fiber optic cables and 96 network switches were stolen from Mississippi to Texas for use in data centers; some of the equipment has since been recovered. $4 million worth of suspected stolen goods, including Deepcool AI data center cooling systems, seized in Southern California; one person arrested. In June, California seized more than $2.2 million worth of goods allegedly stolen in three incidents, including eight pallets of Celestica server switches manufactured by Meta.✴worth $550,000. On the same day, a trailer carrying $1 million worth of equipment was discovered in Chicago, also en route to the data center.
Modern criminals don’t always resort to brutal tactics such as burglaries and armed robberies. They use phishing methods to obtain emails from shipping companies and impersonate their representatives; in other cases, truck carrier IDs are obtained illegally and shippers voluntarily hand over their cargo to the scammers. In one case, a Flock camera used to scan license plates helped identify people monitoring a business while waiting for cars carrying valuable cargo. In another case, company representatives began scanning operators’ driver’s licenses to identify forged documents.
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