Los Angeles County, ports and industry are teaming to come up with funds to combat cargo theft, according to local media reports. The new multi-agency partnership will be based at the Port of Los Angeles.

In August, a highly regarded law-enforcement team of cargo-theft specialists at the Los Angeles port was scratched. The noted Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, known as Cargo CATs, was disbanded as part of a $60-million budget cut ordered by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

After the deed was done, the county was inundated with complaints from truckers, insurance companies and cargo companies that were upset the program was ending.

"I've been in the department just about 35 years, and I've never seen a campaign of this magnitude to save a unit," Sheriff's Capt. Robert Malone, who heads the department's commercial crimes bureau, told the Daily Breeze. "The bottom line is the Sheriff's Department heard that."

The port has agreed to spend $200,000 to help fund a multi-agency force. The Port of Long Beach paid another $200,000. The county is chipping in another $200,000 and private industry is helping with about the same amount.

At the same time, the California Highway Patrol is beefing up its Cargo Theft Interdiction Program, or C-TIP. The two forces, which are made up of personnel from several agencies, will work out of the same building, which is being donated by the port.

C-TIP has been in operation since 1995. Cargo CATs launched in 1990 as the first multi-agency organization targeting cargo thieves and their receivers.

Last year, Cargo CATs recovered $18 million in stolen property and made 60 arrests. In its 12-year history, it has recovered $175 million in property and made 1,000 arrests.

Cargo thefts on the rise

Cargo theft isn't a new crime, but it is growing in popularity for crooks. Nationwide, cargo thieves will steal an estimated $12 billion to $20 billion in goods this year.

In Southern California, reports of truck hijackings have risen steadily over the past five years. The region is popular to thieves because of the number of ports, interstate highways and warehouses.

Police say cargo theft is on the rise because more money can be made in stolen cargo, and the penalties are much lighter than in drug crimes.

A cargo thief who steals a truckload of computers with $1 million in merchandise inside may face three or four years behind bars, while a drug trafficker caught with $1 million worth of dope could go away for 10 to 20 years.

The majority of cargo thefts are simple jobs where one or two thieves will hijack or steal a truck, sometimes without even knowing what's inside.