Trucker Arrested With $2.9M Tungsten Oxide Load After Alleged Fictitious Pickup

What documents did the trucker allegedly fake to steal the tungsten oxide shipment?

Police arrested Deepak Kumar, 31, of Fresno, California, on June 28 after recovering nearly $2.9 million worth of tungsten oxide powder that investigators say he stole using fraudulent documents. Greenfield, Indiana, police stopped Kumar's tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 around 6 a.m. Saturday after receiving an alert that the truck was connected to a cargo theft in Pennsylvania three days earlier.

Authorities said Kumar used fraudulent documents to obtain a load of nearly 40,000 pounds of tungsten oxide powder valued at $2,857,500. The shipment was bound for Mitsubishi Materials Corporation in Japan. Police have not released details describing what type of documents Kumar allegedly forged or how he presented them to obtain the load.

How the alleged theft unfolded

The cargo theft occurred in Pennsylvania on June 25. Police have not identified the Pennsylvania business where the theft took place. Officers located Kumar's truck and trailer just west of the Greenfield exit at mile marker 104 on I-70, confirmed the information linking the vehicle to the Pennsylvania theft, and conducted a traffic stop.

Greenfield police arrested Kumar at the scene on an active arrest warrant issued by Pennsylvania. The warrant charges Kumar with theft by unlawful taking of movable property and criminal use of a communication facility. Officers transported Kumar to the Hancock County Jail.

Police impounded the truck and trailer through Inman's Towing of Greenfield and held both as evidence while investigators requested a search warrant. After a judge issued the warrant, officers searched the trailer and confirmed it contained the stolen tungsten oxide powder. A representative of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation traveled to Greenfield on Sunday and took possession of the recovered shipment.

Why tungsten oxide draws cargo thieves

Tungsten oxide powder is a high-value industrial material used in manufacturing electronics, catalysts, and specialized alloys. At $2.9 million for a single truckload, the material offers thieves a concentrated payday if they can move it to a buyer before law enforcement recovers the load. The shipment's destination in Japan suggests the powder was part of a legitimate supply chain for advanced manufacturing.

Cargo thieves increasingly target high-value industrial materials using fictitious pickup schemes in which they present forged carrier credentials or fake driver documents to warehouse staff. The pattern mirrors recent cases involving copper wire, bourbon, and AI server components, where organized groups impersonate legitimate carriers to walk out with six-figure loads.

What charges Kumar faces

Pennsylvania's warrant charges Kumar with theft by unlawful taking of movable property and criminal use of a communication facility. The Hancock County Prosecutor's Office will determine whether Kumar will face additional criminal charges in Indiana related to the traffic stop and the evidence recovered during the search warrant. Police have not identified additional suspects or released court documents describing the alleged cargo theft.

The Greenfield Police Department and the Hancock County Prosecutor's Office did not respond to requests for additional information, including whether prosecutors plan to file Indiana charges or whether additional court records are available.

Red flags carriers and shippers should watch

The case highlights the vulnerability of high-value industrial shipments to fictitious pickup fraud. Shippers moving materials worth seven figures per truckload should verify driver identity at pickup using multiple data points: photo ID that matches the driver's face, the carrier's MC number and insurance certificate, and a callback to the carrier's publicly listed phone number to confirm the driver assignment.

Warehouse staff should never release a load based solely on documents the driver presents. Fraudulent rate confirmations, fake insurance certificates, and stolen carrier credentials circulate widely among cargo theft rings. A two-minute verification call to the broker or shipper using a phone number from FMCSA records, not the number on the paperwork, stops most fictitious pickups before the truck leaves the yard.

Carriers should also protect their own operating authority. If your MC number appears on a load you never booked, file a complaint with FMCSA and notify the broker immediately. Thieves who impersonate legitimate carriers often reuse the same stolen credentials across multiple thefts until the real carrier or a law enforcement agency flags the pattern.