In my experience this kind of story should be treated with extreme skepticism. Not that the specific thefts it describes didn't take place, just that they are l

In my experience this kind of story should be treated with extreme skepticism. Not that the specific thefts it describes didn't take place, just that they are likely to be blown out of proportion. Not unusual for this to be a story pushed behind the scenes by the entities that stand to profit from the attention, such as the railroads and shippers that would benefit from society devoting more resources to solving their problems for them. Would not be surprised if the (anonymous) "expert on supply chain risks" (who offers an estimate of the size of the problem that is much higher than those of the relevant law enforcement agencies) specifically has the job of making a fuss about this in the media. See e.g. the widespread credulous reporting of "organized retail theft" numbers last year that turned out to be basically made up based on misinterpreting previous (baseless) numbers from earlier reports from the same retail lobbying organization.