Cook County Sheriff Recovers $1.3 Million in Stolen Data Center Supplies as Cargo Thieves Shift Targets
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jun 29
Cook County Sheriff Recovers $1.3 Million in Stolen Data Center Supplies as Cargo Thieves Shift Targets
3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jun 29
Summary
$1.3 million in stolen data center supplies was recovered at a Chicago-area truck yard after Cook County investigators traced a tip about a trailer carrying $300,000 in copper wire stolen from Alabama.
The truck yard owner then told deputies the same person had dropped off another trailer a week earlier; that load had been stolen from Jacksonville, Florida, and held $1 million in data center infrastructure equipment.
Copper wiring is a key input for building and connecting data centers, making the sector's construction boom a fresh target for organized theft rings that have long hit retail supply chains and industrial metals.
U.S. cargo theft causes up to $35 billion in annual losses, according to Homeland Security, underscoring how criminals are expanding beyond store-bound goods into higher-value infrastructure shipments.