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How a freight broker foiled a cargo theft – Long-Haul Crime Log

The story of how criminals doubled-brokered a $60,000 load and then tried – and failed – to steal it

A truck pulling a flatbed trailer stacked with tires. (Photo: Jim Allen/FreightWaves)

At first the freight broker thought it was a mistake. The $60,000 load of oversized tires was supposed to go from Los Angeles to Alaska. Instead, the trucker was taking them to Miami. But after reviewing his paperwork, she realized he’d been duped as an unknowing accessory to a cross-country cargo theft attempt. 

But first, she had to convince the driver. 

“It’s the first time in my life where a driver truly thought I was lying,” recalled Grace Sharkey, a former freight broker who now works as a reporter at FreightWaves. “He thought I was intercepting it.” 

FreightWaves’ true-crime podcast Long-Haul Crime Log tells the story of how Sharkey and her colleagues foiled the cargo theft – and how the criminals attempted to pull it off through a double-brokering scheme. 


“An intelligent double-broker was looking for a specific type of product to steal – and almost pulled it off,” Sharkey said.

This week’s episode is co-hosted by FreightWaves journalists Nate Tabak and Clarissa Hawes.

Long-Haul Crime Log, presented by FreightCasts, is a podcast that delves into the dark side of the trucking industry and the larger world of freight.

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Reach out at crime@freightwaves.com or find us on Twitter @LongHaulCrime.

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Nate Tabak

Nate Tabak is a Toronto-based journalist and producer who covers cybersecurity and cross-border trucking and logistics for FreightWaves. He spent seven years reporting stories in the Balkans and Eastern Europe as a reporter, producer and editor based in Kosovo. He previously worked at newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including the San Jose Mercury News. He graduated from UC Berkeley, where he studied the history of American policing. Contact Nate at ntabak@freightwaves.com.