Thousands of shredded boxes litter the railroad tracks of Los Angeles, in the United States.
These parcels, reduced to rubbish, were looted during attacks on freight trains which are increasing in the city of angels.
The thefts take the form of raids, where the looters come and steal the goods directly from the wagons.
“I have never seen a situation of this magnitude.
At the beginning of December, we lost five million dollars worth of goods,” explains Lupe Valdez, manager of the Union Pacific railway company.
In 1 year, attacks on company trains increased by 356%.
"It's organized theft," responded Gavin Newsom, Governor of the State of California.
The looters "move from lane to lane", he added.
“When there is more electrical tension on one, they move towards another”.
The boxes thrown on the rails go so far as to derail the trains.
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To achieve their goal, the thieves take advantage of the fact that the long railway convoys are immobilized on the tracks to climb onto the freight containers, whose locks they easily break with the help of pliers.
The explosion of looting is accompanied by an upsurge in assaults and armed robberies targeting Union Pacific employees.
To stem the phenomenon, the company says it has reinforced surveillance measures (drones, detection systems, etc.) and recruited more police officers to protect its tracks and convoys.
