The Truck Hijacking Racket

And although truck hijackers and thieves were in no short supply and came in all shapes and sizes and ethnicities, generally speaking, this racket was the domain of Cosa Nostra. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of semi-independent hijacking crews combing the streets in search of truckloads to rob, it's just that the savvier of these robbery rings were either directly or indirectly connected with the Italian mob .

For many years, starting from approximately the late 1930s forward, thefts of truck cargo started to become big business for the mob. Pier thefts from the New York and New Jersey docks had always been a solid racket worked in conjunction with waterfront hoodlums aligned with the International Longshoreman’s Union.

But with the advent and later expansion of manufacturers shipping their merchandise over the road to clients by rolling carrier whether it be locally, or through interstate commerce, the underworld soon went knee-deep into what was to become one of their most lucrative rackets.

After all, like the well-worn underworld joke goes, “When ya don’t pay suppliers for the merchandise you sell, your gross becomes your net.” It was a thought process and a mindset that was to become the mantra for many ambitious hoodlums and racketeers.

Dating back as far as Prohibition rival racketeers and gangsters used to hijack at gunpoint each other's truckloads of bootlegged booze and labeled whiskey from out of state. Before Prohibition, these thieves were called “Highwaymen” because they’d lay in wait along a lonely road or highway for a victim to come along, and then stop them at gunpoint to relieve them of any personal valuables and whatever cargo they might be carrying.

During the 1920s, Prohibition racketeers would on occasion hijack shipments of rival bootleggers, both to make a quick profit, as well as weaken their competition.

But the hijack racket really started to pick up tremendously right after WWII, when the federal government in Washington was issued a directive from President Harry S. Truman and reassigned the Army Corp of Engineers to now apply their considerable expertise and talents to the design and development of an ambitious national system of interlocking highways to span the entire country, from the East Coast to the West Coast. This initiative was part of what Washington referred to as “The New Deal,” the most expansive economic revitalization plan the United States had ever undertaken.

The reasons this was put into place were twofold. Number one was to help employ all the hundreds of thousands of GI’s who had now come back home to the states after the war who desperately needed work to restart their young lives, and number two, to kickstart a battered U.S. economy and treasury that had been seriously depleted because of that costly conflict in Europe.

By the early 1950s, racketeers from across the country were starting to dabble in truck hijacking, and the subsequent disposal of goods stolen off those trucks. The east coast mobs were especially interested in the racket. Predominantly the Five Families of New York City, and their amici over the bridge in New Jersey. The Chicago “Outfit” was also very active. Outfit guys often intercepted tractor-trailers loads of merchandise crossing through territories the Chicago mob-controlled.

Especially in the decades proceeding the switch to air-freighting cargo across the country, or the world, which was to become the rage in later years. For many years, transporting goods by truck carrier became the primary mode of moving product from a manufacturer to the end-user, the American consumer.

Every single product imaginable became ‘open game’ for the underworld. Men’s and women’s clothes, household furniture, food, and groceries, produce, liquor, pharmaceuticals, toiletries like razor blades, car tires, major appliances such as refrigerators and stoves, televisions, air-conditioners, etc. There was simply no end to the amount of stuff that could be heisted. And for the next forty years or so the underworld had a field day.

And although truck hijackers and thieves were in no short supply and came in all shapes and sizes and ethnicities, generally speaking, this racket was the domain of Cosa Nostra. Don’t get me wrong, there were plenty of semi-independent hijacking crews combing the streets in search of truckloads to rob, it's just that the savvier of these robbery rings was either directly or indirectly connected with the Italian mob.

Sometimes it was because after heisting a truck the thieves would seek to safely ‘fence’ the load to a mob soldier, or associate. It was generally understood that in doing so, the mob guy was in a position to immediately ‘buy’ the merchandise, and then just as quickly, safely dispose of it through his underworld network and connections to avoid exposure for everyone involved.

Other times it was the mob guy who gave them the ‘tip off’ in the first place about a particularly valuable load of goods coming into town on a particular tractor-trailer. This was oftentimes made possible because the mob guy may have had an ‘inside guy at a given freight terminal who had scanned and reviewed the manifests of incoming trucks, and knew which particular trucks were carrying the most valuable loads.

In those days some favorite shipments for thieves to grab would have been a truckload of Gillette brand razor blades, or a tractor-trailer packed to the ceiling with cases of Marlboro cigarettes. Each of those types of loads was commonly worth upwards of $250,000 to $300,000 each.

Other favored products of thieves were truckloads of frozen shrimp or lobster tails; shipments of whiskey, top brand liquors, and wines; women’s fur-coats; men’s suits, shoes. Another prime target was the everyday major household appliances people use such as refrigerators, washers, dryers, window air-conditioners, etc. All of the above-mentioned products were highly sought-after commodities that were used in nearly every American household.

An element that inadvertently greatly later helped the mob develop its hijacking operations was the infiltration and near-complete exploitation over the Teamsters Union. Dating back to the late 1930s-early 1940s, Cosa Nostra’s deep penetration and control of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Union, with its international headquarters based in Detroit, its near iron-clad control over Teamsters President James Riddle Hoffa, and subsequent future presidents such as Frank E. Fitzsimmons, placed mobsters as insiders at the helm of union locals throughout the entire United States.

And although cargo thefts were not the reason, nor the premier focus for first gaining control of the Teamsters, far from it in fact, nevertheless the mob’s pivotal control over the union, and the trucking industry on the whole as a natural result of that control, came in very handy in years later as certain mob crews became specialists at the racket.

Having influence over a given trucking company enabled wiseguys to insert their own ‘man’ (often a mob associate) into a job as a truck dispatcher, truck driver, or cargo manager. With prior knowledge of the truck’s manifest, thieves now knew the exact type of load that was on a given track, the exact number of units such as refrigerators, or the number of cases of razor blades, etc., and its value.

Also, they knew the route being driven, the driver’s name, and other pertinent information. Often times armed-hijackings were actually ‘give-ups,’ where everybody was working together. The driver had agreed with the hijackers beforehand to stop at a certain road truck stop, walk into the truck-stop coffee shop for a bite to eat and a cup of java while leaving the key in the ignition of the trailer and the motor running.

Other times the driver might not have been in on it. But once his tractor-trailer was commandeered off the road by ski-masked gunmen who stuck a .38 caliber revolver in his nose, he quickly acquiesced to his new friends. Two members of the hijack team usually put the driver in a car and drove him to a far-off desolate spot where they’d drop him off unharmed hours later.

He’d have to make it back on foot which of course would take some time, giving the hijack team enough time to drive off with the load, and either transfer the merchandise to another ‘clean’ truck for safe transport elsewhere, or empty the truck into a predetermined warehouse for safekeeping until the stolen goods could be ‘fenced,’ or parceled out.

The generally accepted ‘going rate’ professional hijackers expected for any load was around 20% of the wholesale value of the entire shipment. Say they grabbed a trailer full of cases of Marlboro cigarettes, which was a very popular item to steal. And the wholesale value of the load in the legitimate marketplace was $300,000. Then ‘connected’ thieves could generally expect to get about $60,000 cold cash, on the barrelhead for it. That's 20% of the face value.

The price of it, and anything else, of course, is determined by the supply and demand of the buying public. If the load was a hot commodity and supply was scarce, then possibly they’d get a few more ‘points.’ If the load was a half a dog, a product that was in ample supply, and not a highly sought after ‘hot’ item to begin with, then it commanded less. A classic example of “supply and demand.”

But regardless of the logistics and particulars involved, cargo thefts became a very big racket for all who dabbled in it. At one point, federal authorities even conducted a quick survey and investigation to try and assess the severity of the situation in the New York Metropolitan region. They determined that over one eight-month period alone, from December 1958 to August 25, 1959, there had been a total of approximately 62 trucks stolen within the territory of the local FBI field office, in violation of the “theft from interstate shipment” classification.

An FBI spokesman said, “These truckloads had been variously snatched by thefts off the street, burglary of the truck terminal or depot garage itself, armed robbery from the truck driver, or theft by a phony “shape-up” driver taking the truck from the terminal during the morning dispatch.”

In New York City all five families engaged in truck hijacking and cargo thefts on a regular basis. For that matter, the Garden State’s homegrown DeCavalcante Family also dabbled in the racket. “Sam the Plumbers” boys often targeted the Newark docks and truck terminal areas, which fell within their jurisdiction and bailiwick.

But like anything else in life, some borgatas were more active in it than others. The Colombo, Bonanno, and Gambino Families were each deeply involved in hijacking. The Genovese had a few individual crews who also handled that sort of thing. So did the Lucchese’s on a very select basis. But by and large, during the 1960s era, truck hijacking became a staple for the other three families. And if there was a first among equals, the Joseph Colombo Family led the pack.

Back in that era, pound for pound, Joe Colombo had more of his members and associates stealing cargo loads than any other borgata with the Bonanno’s and Gambino’s running a distant second and third.

Besides commandeering tractor-trailers right off the highway ‘cowboy style,’ other prime targets were trucking firms hauling shipments off the Brooklyn and New York docks, and freight-trucking companies hauling out of JFK International Airport became constant prey for Colombo robbery crews.

Each family usually had a small gang, or two, of guys who targeted trucks. Or ‘semi-independents’ allied with them. But the Colombo’s had entire regimes whose specialty was almost solely dedicated to hijacking trucks, fencing stolen goods, or both.

Good examples of this were the following crews, or regimes, for the Colombo Family and other Families as well;

Colombo

Caporegime Carmine (The Snake) Persico oversaw a large crew that included many top hijackers including; Salvatore (Sally Boy) Albanese, Gennaro (Jerry Lang) Langella, George LaFante, Ralph Spero, Thomas (Shorty) Spero, and Hugh (Big Apples) McIntosh. They were charged together as part of a 1960s hijack ring that heisted a truck from Akers Motor Lines. Garbage racketeers and brothers Angelo (Fat Angelo) and Vincent Garofalo were charged with hijacking a tractor-trailer load of garments in 1965; Salvatore (Sally D) D’Ambrosio, and his brother Alphonse (Funzi D) D’Ambrosio, who were arrested several times for hijackings. Persico himself was arrested with a half-dozen members of his crew for a slew of cargo thefts in 1960. He was later repeatedly tried and convicted on hijacking charges. Carmine Persico eventually received 15 years in federal prison.

Caporegime Sebastiano (Buster) Aloi; he was one of Joe Colombo’s veteran capos who had dabbled in hijacking for years. Known hijackers connected with the Aloi regime included; Modesto (Duke) Santora; Louis (Lou Curry) Arcuri, who was arrested for meat hijacking in 1955; Michael (The Silk Gloved Kid) Belvedere, charged with hijacking in 1962; Pasquale (Checko) Fusco, nabbed for hijacking in the early 1970s; Joseph (Doo-Doo) Pastore, his half-brother Richie Dorme; and brothers Robert (Bobby), and Pasquale (Fat Patty) Catalano, who were indicted in 1962 for heading a hijacking ring that stole $500,000 in merchandise over 18 months.

Caporegime John (Sonny) Franzese; this notorious hoodlum ran a major hijacking racket with several known and convicted truck hijackers including; Frederick (Freddy No-Nose) Delucia; Anthony (Tony the Gawk) Augello, who was arrested in 1965 for a hijacking with Frank (The Bug) Sciortino; Lazzaro (Larry) Sangiovanni; Paul (Pork Chops) Flammio; Joseph (Jojo) Vitacco, arrested for hijacking a shipment of carpets in 1953 along with Benjamin (The Claw) Castellazzo. Vitacco was nabbed again in 1955 for a series of meat and fur hijackings along with crew members George Papageorge, Richard Langone, James Recereto, and others; Felice (Philly Cigars) Vizzari, arrested for hijacking a load of dresses; Salvatore (Sonny Black) Montello, was nabbed for hijacking in 1970. William (Buster) Crabbe was another known hijacker.

Caporegime Harry Fontana had a huge crew that originally included the Gallo brothers, many of whom were also very active in hijacking and thefts from the South Brooklyn docks and local trucking terminals. One known hijacker serving in Fontana’s regime was soldier Vincent (Jimmy Brown) Muce, who was convicted in a hijack case and received 2.5 years in federal prison. Another former Fontana regime soldier was Gallo gang member, Joseph (Joe Mags) Magnasco.

Soldier Salvatore (Sally Westo) Imperiale was arrested in the late 1940s, as the kingpin of a 14-member South Brooklyn-based hijacking operation that robbed numerous truckloads of merchandise valued at over $750,000 over a number of years.

Red Hook’s notorious Gallo Gang was also known to be heavily engaged in hijacking trucks, cargo and pier thefts, selling ‘swag,’ and other brazen robberies and burglaries. Joey and Larry Gallo had many members of their breakaway faction active in hijacking, including Leonard (Big Lenny) Dello, Salvatore (Sonny) Pepitone, John (Mooney) Cutrone, Joe Magnasco, and Salvatore (Lefty) Mangiamelli. These thefts oftentimes financially augmented their faction during the early 1960s warfare against Profaci/Colombo forces. It was one of the few sources of ready, quick income for its members.

Caporegime Victor (Little Vic) Orena Sr., had a crew also active in hijacking that was centered around JFK Airport in Jamaica, Queens. In fact, in his earlier years as a soldier Orena had once gotten jammed up in a hijack case.

Other Colombo-oriented convicted hijackers included soldiers Anthony (Tony Ski) Scianna, and his brother Gabriel; Albert Mugnolo; Ralph (Whitey) Tropiano, and his brother George Tropiano; Andrew (Mush) Russo; Angelo (Jilly) Greca; Frank (Beansy) Melli; William (Billy Fingers) Cutolo Sr.; Paul (Paulie Guns) Bevacqua, and Vincent (Jimmy) Angellino. The crews of capos Alphonse (Allie LaMott) Giannatasio, and Frank Fusco, were also very active in cargo thefts.

Gregory Scarpa Sr., and his brother Sal were also known for hijacking, as well as serving as “fences” of hijacked loads they purchased from other hijack crews. Scarpa was arrested by the FBI in March 1960, for possession of 84 cases of liquor that were recovered from his garage. The investigation determined the load had been stolen from Marcell’s Motor Express Company a month before, on February 27, 1960.

In 1969, Greg Scarpa was arrested for hijacking again. This time he and four others were nabbed by the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office on attempted grand larceny, and attempted possession of stolen property charges in relation to a load of J. & B. Scotch. Defendants included Scarpa, Robert Stasio, Samuel Weiss, Anthony Cappucci, and Frank Farace.

Note: In later years, it was revealed that Greg Scarpa had indeed been a decades-long informant for the FBI. One of the primary benefits derived from Scarpa’s cooperation over the years was information he provided to the feds related to various “thefts from interstate shipments” (truck hijackings), and the subsequent recovery of millions of dollars in stolen goods for which Scarpa received financial rewards and bounties paid by insurance companies. Examples of this arrangement are insurance company payments (amounts redacted) to Scarpa in 1968, for the recovery of $200,000 in stolen jewelry, and the recovery $400,000 in hijacked Italian-knitwear goods. The FBI later reported that for the calendar of 1968 alone, Scarpa’s information was instrumental in the recovery of over $1,000,000 in stolen goods.

Other mafiosi who later were identified as ‘fences’ of stolen goods included capos Joseph (Joe T) Tomasello, and his partner Jimmy Angellino, who were both arrested for criminally receiving stolen goods (a load of television sets) in 1988. Another soldier acting as a ‘fence’ was Joseph (Joe Notch) Iannaci, and his partners, Albert DeCicco and Joseph (Joe Butter) DeCicco, who were named in 1967, as the individuals slated to receive a trailer load of pharmaceuticals set to be hijacked in Secaucus, New Jersey.

In short, nearly every Profaci/Colombo regime had at least a few guys who dabbled in hijacking with some entire crews being knee-deep in the racket.

Bonnano

Caporegime Gaetano (Smitty) D’Angelo headed a hijack crew and was investigated for a series of thefts in the 1950s. Crew soldiers included Steve Menna, who was nabbed for hijacking two trucks; crew member Joseph (Jimmy) Genna, who was nabbed in the early 1960s; soldier Frank (Cheesecake) Mistretta; and soldier Michael (Mike the Sailor) Casale, charged with fencing hijacked goods in the 1960s;

Soldier Samuel (Hank) Perrone ran a crew that specialized in truck hijackings. Steve Menna was especially close to Perrone, before Perrone’s 1968 execution during the Banana War. Another close associate was Camillo (Carl) Sardegna, who owned a trucking firm that did business on the New York docks. Sardegna was suspected of fingering shipments for theft.

Working out of Howard Beach, Queens, soldiers Vincent Asaro, and his father Girolamo (Jerry) Asaro, along with their associates, were also very active in snatching trucks from JFK Airport. Other Bonanno’s engaged in the racket included Frank (Frankie T) Mari, Murad (Mickey Coco) Nersissian, and James (Jimmy Legs) Episcopia.

Caporegime Philip (Rusty) Rastelli headed an extensive truck hijack operation out of Greenpoint that included such future hoods as Joe Massino, Henry Bono, Philip (Lucky) Giaccone, and Dominick (Sonny Black) Napolitano. Giaccone in particular operated a freight company at JFK, so he too was in a perfect position to facilitate hijacking and fencing activities. The Zummo brothers, Tommy and Joe, were also part of Rastelli’s robbery crew.

Gambino

Caporegime Carmine (Charlie Wagon Wheels) Fatico, this man ran an extensive hijack crew out of East New York, and later Ozone Park in Queens, and Suffolk Counties, that specialized in truck hijackings. Crew members active in the racket included his brother Donato (Danny Wags) Fatico, John Gotti Sr., Eugene (Gene) Gotti, Angelo Ruggiero, Johnny and Charlie Carneglia, Louie (The Mole) Morra, Wilfred (Willy Boy) Johnson, Anthony (Roach) Rampino, and others. They were among the top hijackers of this borgata in the Brooklyn and Queens area.

In January 1970, John Carneglia and Ruggiero were named as key members, among twelve suspects, indicted together by the FBI for operating a cigarette hijacking ring in Newark, New Jersey. At the time of their arrests, they were also under another indictment for heading up a multimillion-dollar Queens-Brooklyn stolen car ring.

Caporegime Anthony (Fat Andy) Ruggiano was another crew boss whose men specialized in truck hijackings. Among the men who targeted loads for him included; Nicholas (Little Nicky) Corozzo, and his brother Joseph (Jojo) Corozzo, Anthony (Tony Pep) Trentacosta, Anthony (Tony Lee) Guerrieri, and Tony’s brother Michael (Mikey Gal) Guerrieri.

Gondolfo (Fat Buddy) Sciandra, a veteran soldier under Carlo Gambino, was reputed to be active handling the receiving and distribution of hijacked truckloads. He was allegedly supervising the sale of over 275 cases of stolen merchandise from a warehouse used as a ‘drop’ that was later raided by the FBI. Authorities noted the recovery value of this load alone was $531,000. Although identified as a participant, Sciandra was never charged in the case. Sciandra was said to have another ‘drop’ located on Staten Island, in partnership with Joe Colombo, that was extremely active and profitable in receiving ‘hot’ loads. Buddy boasted to an informant (Scarpa) that he had handled five loads at this particular location in a single night and that he was currently housing a $250,000 pharmaceutical shipment there while he looked for a buyer.

Lucchese

Not to be outdone, the Lucchese borgata’s Paul Vario regime was also very heavy into hijacking out of the Airport. Among Paulie’s more active hijackers were his brother Salvatore (Babe) Vario, and son Paulie Jr., and crew soldiers Bruno Facciolo, Danny Cutaia, Angelo (The Boxer) DeFendis, Alfred (Flounderhead) Visconti, Alphonse (Little Al) D’Arco, Louis (Louie Crossbay) Daidone, Raymond (Ray) Argentina and his brother Peter, Remo Serra, Thomas (Red) Gilmore, and Ray Montemurro. The notorious Irish hoodlum James (Jimmy the Gent) Burke and his crew, which was also allied with Paul Vario, were among the top hijackers operating out of JFK Airport.

Another Vario minion was Carlo Piccioli who was once arrested by the FBI in Nassau while in possession of over $1,000,000 in hijacked goods.

Lucchese associate Savino (Sam) DeBendictus was another well-known hijacker and transporter of stolen goods. DeBendictus was arrested several times by the FBI for interstate theft, and the criminal possession of hijacked goods.

Soldier/Caporegime Christopher (Ticker) Furnari, based in Brooklyn, oversaw a large crew from his bar, The 19th Hole, that included many hijackers such as Anthony (Gaspipe) Casso, Vic Amuso, and others.

Dating back to 1949, a notorious garment racketeer and Lucchese associate named Gabriel (Gabe) Klar was arrested by the FBI for hijacking a truckload of piece goods from the Valley Transportation company. Klar owned a major garment carrier company by the name of K. & T. Trucking Company, located in the heart of the Garment District. Agents later traced the stolen cargo to K. & T.’s company depot, on West 37th Street, and recovered the shipment. He had foolishly used his own premises as a ‘drop’ for the hijacked load. Gabe Klar later pled guilty in federal court and received 15 months behind bars.

Genovese

This borgata also had several individuals and crews who focused on hijacking loads. For instance, in 1953 a Queens-based Genovese soldier who was allied with family soldier David (Little Davy) Betillo by the name of Sabato (Sammy Feet) Falgiano was arrested by FBI agents, along with several associates of his, for heisting a tractor-trailer containing $500,000 in Sylvania-brand Television tubes. Falgiano was one of four hoods from East Harlem who were nabbed after federal agents traced the stolen trailer load to a Bronx warehouse they had rented as a stash house.

The biggest problem for the hoods, and the one which actually led to their exposure and arrest, was the fact that the half-million-dollar load consisted of ‘interior tubes’ of televisions, not the television sets themselves. So although it was indeed a costly load, it had absolutely zero value to fellow wiseguys, or to underworld fences for that matter. In other words, the hijacked load was unmarketable.

Another veteran Genovese soldier named Francis (Frankie Brooks) Zumba was arrested in November of 1951 for hijacking a truckload of cigarette lighters valued at $250,000 a month earlier from the White Express Company, a trucking firm based in Manhattan. He later pled guilty and received a six-year sentence in federal prison, plus one year suspended sentence and another year of probation.

Another important Genovese soldier alleged to be active in the racket was Little Italy-based hood, Salvatore (Solly Burns) Granello. It was alleged by informants that Granello was known as a major ‘fence’ of stolen property. Whether it was from a loft burglary, a pier theft, or a hijacked truckload of merchandise, “Solly Burns” was the guy to see. He had a reputation as having both the money and the connections and resources, to dispose of even the hardest to sell loads.

Over the years Granello was said to have kept close relations to many top underworld heist men and thieves from several different families such as Lucchese soldier Vincent (Jimmy Jones) Potenza, a top burglar and thief from Broome Street; Colombo hood Joseph (Joe Yak) Yacovelli; and Genovese associate Salvatore Di Pietro, considered to be one of the most prolific burglars and successful ‘second-story’ men in the United States. They all worked hand-in-glove with Granello to move untold millions in expensive artworks, stocks, and negotiable securities, furs, gold jewelry, diamonds, and other valuable loot.

In 1955, that same informant reported that Granello allegedly fenced 200 cases of hijacked whiskey that he reputedly shipped to Florida, and later sold to a connection in Miami Beach. Solly Burns was said to also have strong connections in Downtown Manhattan’s Diamond District at the Bowery and Canal Street, with corrupt stock brokers in the Financial District, various discount houses, and with other ‘outlets’ for the successful disposal of stolen goods.

On that note, a top Jewish ‘fence’ who was considered one of the biggest conduits of stolen goods in the country was Jacob (Jack Mace) Maislich. He operated a gold and diamond pawn brokerage in Midtown Manhattan that he used as a base for his fencing operations for decades. “Jack Mace” as he was widely known throughout the underworld, was in fact closely associated with, and in the crew of, East Harlem based Lucchese capo Paul (Paulie Ham) Correale. But over the years Mace did business with various crews in New York and elsewhere throughout the country.

DeCavalcante

Caporegime Frank (Big Frankie) Cocchiaro ran a Brooklyn-based crew of hoods known to be active in truck hijackings. Regime members included Gaetano (Corky) Vastola, Louis Telese, Umberto (Vadoo) Gallo, and Rudolph (Rudy) Farone. Each of these hoodlums was documented thieves and accomplished heist men.

The value of shipments stolen was often significant figures. For instance, on November 14, 1968 - a trailer containing 500 cartons of Kodak-brand photo equipment valued at nearly $56,000 was snatched off a Manhattan street. Less than two weeks later, on November 27, 1968 - a 40’ foot tractor-trailer was grabbed which was carrying 900 cases of cigarettes. The cigarette load was later being offered by the thieves for $50,000. When using the going rate of 20% of the wholesale value, that means this shipment had an approximate legitimate value of $250,000. Another valuable load was the 1969 theft of a trailer-load of 1000 cases of Cutty Sark Scotch Whiskey, which the thieves were trying to unload at $35 per case. In May 1969, a truckload containing 324 cylinders of mercury with a value of $200,000 was recovered by FBI agents after a raid on a Staten Island ‘drop’ warehouse.

Examples of other highly desired merchandise targeted for theft were refrigerators, air-conditioners (Kearny, NJ), and Polaroid cameras (Somerset, NJ). But nearly anything was fair game; from golf balls and pro equipment (Rutherford, NJ); to men and women’s shoes….It was big business for wiseguys.

The above-named mafiosi and their associates are just a tiny smattering of all the hoodlums who either steadily engaged in, or sometimes dabbled with hijacking trucks or helped ‘fence’ and dispose of stolen loads of cargo over the years.

But through constant undercover police ’sting’ operations directed at the various hijack gangs identified by underworld informants the New York City Police Department was able to reduce hijacking significantly over the years. For instance, from a high of 378 hijackings alone committed in 1971, involving $7.8-million worth of merchandise, to the comparatively low 1973 total of 127 hijacks (an average of slightly more than two a week), involving $4.2-million worth of merchandise, the authorities were able to cut deeply into one of the mob’s most lucrative rackets.

By the 1980s, the trucking industry and federal government investigators were getting even better tooled up to combat this pervasive problem. The development of computer technology was to become a death kneel for truck hijackers. Federal law enforcement authorities, in partnership with the trucking industry in general, began utilizing GPS tracking devices to keep an eye on truck cargo moving from one locale to another.

Trucking companies first installed GPS devices into the cabs of tractor-trailers. Once hijackers realized this, thieves started switching out the cabs used to haul away the stolen trailers. So then companies started inserting the GPS devices directly into the cargo trailers themselves. In order to keep one step ahead of law enforcement, the thieves then began to bring along extra manpower, and would manually transfer the entire cargo load from the stolen ‘hot’ trailer to another clean ‘cold’ trailer they brought along, before driving it to their ‘stash house’ for safekeeping until they could sell the shipment to a ‘fence.’ It became a war of wits between cargo carriers and truck hijackers.

Finally, the entire trucking industry began inserting GPS tracking devices in certain strategically placed boxes or crates within the load itself. It now became impossible to snatch a shipment without drawing immediate police attention to you. Law enforcement could track hijackers down in minutes. Carriers also began painting the truck’s ID number in bold white paint across the top of each trailer so that police helicopters could easily identify stolen trucks from the sky as hijackers drove away their plunder on the open roads….It was over!

Just as quickly as truck hijacking had burst onto the underworld’s menu of lucrative rackets to operate, the entire racket seemingly evaporated overnight. For just as Prohibition quickly died out in 1933, with the repeal of The Volstead Act. Racketeers were no longer successfully able or interested in robbing trucks. Hijacking quickly became a thing of the past.

But as the old saying goes….”It was nice while it lasted!”

Until next time…”The Other Guy!”

The Truck Hijacking Racket

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The Truck Hijacking Racket

Unlock This Door to the Underworld

Take the Journey!

You May Also Enjoy

The Anthony Strollo Regime of NY/NJ

The Day Charlie (the Bug) Workman Saved a Horse

Racketeer Profile – San Francisco’s “Jimmy the Hat” Lanza

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