CUSTOMS INVESTIGATION NABS “STEAL RAILS” SECURITY GUARDS

CUSTOMS INVESTIGATION NABS “STEAL RAILS” SECURITY GUARDS

CUSTOMS INVESTIGATION NABS “STEAL RAILS” SECURITY GUARDS

   A joint investigative effort has snared a gang of 16 Pinkerton Security Services guards accused of stealing more than $1.5 million worth of rail shipments that they were paid to protect.

   The charges were the result of a task force comprising U.S. Customs, the Union Pacific Railroad Police Department, the U.S. Border Anti-Smuggling Unit, the U.S. Attorney's Office, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

   Customs Service special agents also arrested a postal employee that allegedly received and sold much of the merchandise stolen by the security guards.

   The crime spree ran from the summer of 1993 until September 1995, when Southern Pacific hired the Pinkerton security guards to provide additional security in the El Paso, Texas area. While working for the SP, the security guards boarded trains without authorization and broke or removed original security seals, pilfered containers and trailers and stole merchandise from interstate shipments, including bonded shipments consigned to the Collector of Customs. The guards transported the stolen merchandise in Pinkerton trucks throughout El Paso and New Mexico.

      Many of the thieves left Pinkerton to take other security positions — including two who became U.S. Border Patrol Agents.

   The thefts became known in the media as the “steal rails” case.