Investigators near Chicago recently recovered two stolen trailers packed with data center supplies worth about $1.3 million. Business Insider reported the recovery, and Vice and Republic World picked it up in early July 2026.
One trailer held nearly $300,000 in copper wire taken in Alabama. The other carried roughly $1 million in infrastructure equipment stolen in Florida.
Why thieves want this cargo
A data center needs truckloads of electrical gear, cooling systems, networking hardware and copper wiring before a single server goes in. Much of it moves long distances by truck, which makes it easy prey for organized cargo thieves.
Copper is the obvious prize. It runs through the wiring, power systems and network links of every facility, and it sells quickly as scrap. A large AI campus can use so much of it that one shipment is worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Cargo theft was already a big business. The US Department of Homeland Security estimates it costs companies about $35 billion a year, and the AI building rush has handed thieves a new category of load to chase.
An industry under pressure
The thefts land while data centers are already unpopular in many communities. Residents worry about the electricity and water the big facilities use, and about their environmental impact. Vice, in its usual sardonic register, said polling shows data center opposition cuts across party lines.
Experts quoted by Republic World expect developers to spend more on supply chain tracking, surveillance and site security. Without added safeguards, they said, construction materials will stay a lucrative target while billions of dollars keep flowing into AI infrastructure.
Sources
- Thieves Are Now Targeting AI Data Center Construction Sites for Copper and Expensive Equipment
- People Hate Data Centers, But Thieves Love Them: $1.3 Million in Copper and Equipment Stolen So Far
