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The truckload of copper, valued at $240,000, is taken into evidence by the Wichita Falls, Texas, Police Department on March 23. (Fernando Boom)

A Dallas executive helped thwart an alleged cargo theft by calling police as he raced down highways, tracking a $240,000 load of copper apparently rerouted to California instead of Illinois.

Fernando Boom, transportation director at , recently experienced his second cargo hijacking during his 16 months working for the scrap metals processor.

“They’re targeting loads that are high value and targeting lanes that are known to be copper corridors,” Boom said. “We supply raw materials to the mills, which melt it down and create whatever products they’re selling to their customers, and their customers are putting it into the items we use on a daily basis.”

Copper and metal alloy loads are valued at $250,000 or more depending on the materials.

In the latest instance, Boom foiled the alleged thief but not the previous one since deterrent internal protocols weren’t followed.

On March 23, he was driving with his wife, sons and dog when he began receiving alerts from technology inside the load of copper. He said he was watching the load move in the wrong direction while thinking the driver was stealing his load.

Boom said when he noticed the route deviation, “the broker at that point couldn’t do anything about it.” The cargo responsibility falls on the actual hauling party/carrier. If the load is lost or stolen, then the shipper bears the most responsibility since there is no carrier that’s taken responsibility.

“I was about 20 minutes away when I saw him traveling westbound. So I just decided to go north,” Boom said. “I pulled over and let my wife drive. I was half on the computer, which started pinging the GPS every 5 minutes, while I was coordinating with every single law enforcement from Bowie, Texas, to Decatur to Wichita Falls. I was letting them know where he was at that point in my GPS, which had a five-minute lag time.”

That meant every time Boom told police where the load was, it had moved on before they could catch up.

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Fernando Boom, transportation director for Venture Metals, stands between two tracking screens. The��Tive platform (left) shows active, in-transit load tracking including light and route deviation alerts. The screen on the right is a Samsara platform that shows fixed-asset and equipment GPS locations. (Fernando Boom)

“I was chasing that carrier down,” Boom described. “He was heading west when he was supposed to be heading north-northeast. He was heading towards California, and there was no reason why he should have been even near Wichita Falls, Texas, when he was supposed to be going to east Alton, Ill., to the copper corridor.”

Wichita Falls Police officers arrived at the Love’s Travel Stop where the driver had stopped. They talked to the driver and Boom after he arrived.

Patrol officers reviewed key information showing an unauthorized company had picked up the load, traveled in the opposite direction of its intended destination and bypassed the cargo lock not once — but twice.

Police identified the driver as Kamalijit Singh, 33, who held a Class A commercial driver license with an endorsement tank vehicle (N).

Wichita Police Sgt. Jacob Vasquez said, “Singh told the responding officers that he was transporting the load to Illinois, however he was driving in the wrong direction per the GPS tracking system. That is what alerted the representative for Venture Metals, and why he called the police to investigate.

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Fresh metal-to-metal scratch marks around a bolt and nut indicate it had been removed and reapplied. (Fernando Bloom)

During their investigation, police determined the cargo lock had been bypassed twice without the seal being broken.

“Instead of rivets on these particular doors, the doors were only bolted into place, thereby making them removable. This is how, it is believed, that the doors were able to be opened without tampering with the security seal in place,” Vasquez said. “It was confirmed that the doors were, indeed, removed due to the fact that a light sensor inside of cargo area was exposed to light twice.”

Boom examined the bolts and reportedly found fresh metal-to-metal marks around a tampered bolt and nut, indicating it had been removed and reapplied, compared with the other non-disturbed bolts with the same locking mechanisms.

What Boom wonders is how a different carrier allegedly learned about his shipment and retrieved it when another company apparently was supposed to transport the copper.

“The truck and trailer weren’t stolen per se, as Singh is the trucker that actually picked up the load from its origin in Willis Point, Texas,” Vasquez said. “The shipment was brokered through a company called Trinity Logistics and supposed to be picked up in Willis Point, Texas, by a company called BSL Express Trucking. The company that Singh reportedly works for is a company called JRL Logistics.”

Police noted the side of Singh’s truck indicated it had a U.S. Department of Transportation number MC 1393929. That listing is licensed for general freight to JRL Logistics LLC, Fresno, Calif., for one driver and one power unit.

The company address at 2784 N. Vahe Ave. in Fresno is shown by Zillow real estate listings as a six-bedroom, three-bath, single-family residence. The California Secretary of State records shows JRL Logistics as active, in good standing and registered to Kamalijit Singh since February 2022.

While Boom acknowledges there is no advance notice that identifies which load thieves intend to steal, he has deployed sophisticated technological “guardrails” to identify patterns indicating a load is being hijacked. He said internal protocols that would have prevented the copper load from being placed inside a different company’s truck weren’t followed but have been addressed.

“The truck was seized, and the stolen cargo was successfully recovered and impounded pending return to the rightful owner,” Vasquez said. “In Texas, we take theft of any type very seriously. If you commit a crime in Texas, we will arrest you, and we will hold you accountable for your actions.”

Boom commended Texas police, especially the Wichita Police Department, for their quick actions.

In the meantime, Venture Metals is losing money while the copper “sits there collecting dust having to wait for a trial and whatever are the other legal steps,” Boom said. “That load was supposed to go to one of our customers, so we had to scramble and send them another load.”

Singh was charged with a first-degree felony of cargo theft above $200,000, which is punishable from 5 to 99 years or life imprisonment, and a $10,000 fine.

He was released March 24 on bail after posting a $100,000 surety bond, according to the Wichita Falls Police Department. The case was assigned to Judy Rosenberger, assistant district attorney in the Wichita County District Attorney’s office, and will go before a grand jury prior to court proceedings.