Auto Cargo Theft Hits Record High as Driver Vanishes with Load

Key Details The FBI's Tampa Field Office is investigating the disappearance of driver Gonzalez and his finished vehicle transport load from a Brevard County rest area on I-95 South on April 17. Surveillance footage from 1 a.m. to 8 a.m. that morning is crucial to the investigation. The truck moved one exit south before reversing toward Jacksonville, suggesting a planned handoff rather than a random incident. Why It Matters Cargo theft in the U.S. reached unprecedented levels in 2025, with 2,576 incidents recorded across the country. Estimated losses jumped 60 percent to nearly $725 million compared to 2024, with the average theft value climbing to $273,990. Auto transport theft operates differently than traditional cargo theft because stolen American vehicles command premium prices in West Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe. Industry Impact Gonzalez picked up multiple vehicles at the Port of Brunswick, Georgia, one of the East Coast's largest vehicle processing ports. Criminal organizations targeting these loads know that major ports process hundreds of thousands of new and near-new vehicles annually. The pipeline moving stolen American vehicles out of the country typically uses ocean containers at U.S. seaports with falsified shipping manifests. Whether Gonzalez was a victim, accomplice, or both remains under investigation.