8 Accused of Trafficking in Stolen Cargo

In a sting aimed at cargo theft rings, the FBI arrested eight people Wednesday suspected of trafficking in stolen car speakers, tea, men’s suits, CD-ROMs and luggage, authorities said.

They are among 16 people indicted by the four-year sting effort dubbed “Operation Helping Hand,” which worked out of a rented Paramount warehouse, said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. attorney’s office.

Essentially, undercover officers from the FBI, the California Highway Patrol and the Long Beach Police Department befriended suspected members of two theft rings and promoted the warehouse as an ideal place to store stolen freight, Mrozek said.

Cargo theft rings typically track cargo that leaves Los Angeles Harbor and often steal the truck and the cargo container it carries. They then store it for a fee in warehouses run by cooperating thieves until they can sell it at cut-rate prices on the black market.

“Cargo theft is a huge problem in the Los Angeles region, where it accounts for a sixth of the problem nationwide,” said FBI spokeswoman Laura Bosley. “We have a long way to go.”

Southern California, in fact, is the nation’s capital for cargo theft.

Thieves in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties steal an estimated $2 million worth of goods each day, authorities said.

In 2001, a record loss of nearly $600 million was reported, FBI officials have said.

The first indictment charges nine defendants linked to a ring allegedly led by Benjamin “Benji” Mercado, 29, of Burbank, who is accused of using a blowtorch to cut the pin locks off cargo containers loaded with Ricardo of Beverly Hills luggage.

Eight other suspected members of the so-called Mercado crew arranged for the storage and sale of merchandise, including $24,000 worth of men’s suits, $585,000 worth of sport coats and $120,952 worth of luggage, the indictment alleges. The crew also used the warehouse to store $100,000 worth of Lipton tea, which they hoped to sell for about $4,000.

Two other suspects are still being sought.

The second indictment accuses Darnell Forest Williams, 40, of Cerritos and Billy Ray Davenport, 49, of Los Angeles of stealing Kenwood brand stereo components worth $445,508, and 18,000 CD-ROMs worth about $400,000.

On Feb. 28, 1999, Williams delivered 26 pallets loaded with stereo components to the warehouse, and told two undercover officers to be sure and wipe their fingerprints off the truck he was driving, according to the indictment.

Williams and Davenport paid the undercover officers more than $5,000 in cash for storing the stolen items, the indictment charges.

Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy, grand theft and illegal possession of stolen interstate and foreign shipments, and faces up to 10 years in federal prison, authorities said.

A year and a half ago, Operation Helping Hand broke a separate cargo theft ring led by Juan Luis Villalobos.

Villalobos’ gang targeted trucks, truck yards and distribution centers across the West, authorities said, and returned to Los Angeles to fence the merchandise through a thriving domestic and international black market.

From late 1998 to early 2000, the 44-year-old Mexican national and his gang stole an estimated $7 million worth of sleeping bags, electrical products, computers, athletic shoes, cereal, basketballs, and tires, authorities said.

As is typical, the merchandise was offered to mom-and-pop stores for as little as 25% of its retail value.

Villalobos pleaded guilty to the thefts.