[dropcap size=big]I[/dropcap]t’s beginning to look a lot like an early Christmas for thieves in Northeast Los Angeles.
NBC shows neighborhood train tracks near Lincoln Park littered with “thousands” of upturned, opened, and tossed boxes this morning, the aftermath of widespread theft of packages and cargo traveling north from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The loot reportedly either fell off or was thrown from, Union Pacific cargo trains enlisted to help ease the backlog of unopened shipping containers that has stymied workflow at the ports over the last few weeks.
This display of wanton gaffling shows numerous freight cars that were broken into, including a FedEx container, moving with their doors wide open doors while traversing homeless encampments lining the tracks. The footage even shows a pair of burglars in action, brandishing bolt cutters and hopping on and off of trains, as a lookout whistles to them from beyond a fence, alerting them to the fact they’re getting a closeup from the news channel’s whirlybirds.
Seventy-seven ships currently still remain offshore, anchored in wait for their cargo to be unloaded and conveyed by trucking companies to distribution warehouses, both of which are slammed and running behind in their efforts. The logjam has created numerous issues for Wilmington residents whose streets have been used as ad hoc storage for containers, as well as businesses and individuals waiting for their supplies and imported plastic crap to arrive on time. Not to mention the rise of particulate matter from the ships and the unhealthful air quality that they have contributed to in Long Beach communities close to the port.
Though Union Pacific has its own certified police force of “special agents” to deal with crimes along its 54,116 miles of railroad, it is yet to comment on NBC’s expose of the thefts. The agency’s roots lie in the infamous Pinkerton national detective agency formed to protect U.S. industrialists and their interests in the 19th century. The spillage and pillaging (or spillaging) has not created any notable delays for Metrolink's commuter service, which shares these same tracks.
So, if you’re wondering where the supply of scarce Gabby’s Dollhouses, CocoMelon dolls, and Lego Infinity Gauntlets you’re trying to track down for your youngster’s holidays happen to be right now, you may want to gun your one-horse open sleigh over to the black market to begin the search.
