Posted on 01/26/2008 3:12:06 PM PST by radar101
Savvy criminals are using some of the country's most credible logos, including FedEx, Wal-Mart, DirecTV and the U.S. Border Patrol, to create fake trucks to smuggle drugs, money and illegal aliens across the border, according to a report by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
Termed "cloned" vehicles, the report also warns that terrorists could use the same fake trucks to gain access to secure areas with hidden weapons.
The report says criminals have been able to easily obtain the necessary vinyl logo markings and signs for $6,000 or less. Authorities say "cosmetically cloned commercial vehicles are not illegal."
In August 2006, the Texas Department of Public Safety, on a routine traffic stop, found 3,058 pounds of marijuana and 204 kilograms of cocaine in a "cloned" Wal-Mart semi-trailer, driven by a man wearing a Wal-Mart uniform.
In another case, a truck painted with DirecTV and other markings was pulled over in a routine traffic stop in Mississippi and discovered to be carrying 786 pounds of cocaine. 
Police said they became suspicious because the truck carried the markings or DirecTV and several of its rivals. An 800 number on the truck's rear to report bad driving referred callers to an adult sex chat line.
Trucks and vans marked as ambulances or law enforcement vehicles create the greatest concern, according to the report.
A fake U.S. Border Patrol van was found to be carrying 31 illegal aliens in Casa Grande, Ariz.
An alert agent recognized that the "H" in the van's serial number is a letter used only on U.S. Border Patrol Jeep Wranglers. It should have been a "P."
"Neither emergency service vehicles nor any government vehicles are exempt from terrorist or other criminal use," the report warns its law enforcement readers.
wow - off topic a bit but stalin used fake bakery trucks to haul in KGB prisoners. otherwise the shear number of them would have raised a panic.
I once knew a girl nicknamed Fedex, because when she went over to a guy’s house she absolutely, positively had to stay their overnight.
I thought ‘Fed-Ex’ was what Kevin Federline was going by now after divorcing the the ‘Brit’.
While ‘we’ sleep, the bad guys come up with ways to stay a step ahead....Of course ‘we’ have to stay up with the important things, brittany, OJ etc etc
Oops!
They're in violation of the copyright & trademark laws -- but that's a civil violation.
And, as it now stands, it would be up to the owners of the marks to detect and prosecute the malfeasants.
Methinks copyright & trademark law is about to be criminalized. Which isn't an especially good idea -- if you've ever dealt with corporate legal counsel -- but it seems unavoidable.
Huh? Sounds like these authorities need a little refresher course in the basics of registered trademark law. ANY unauthorized use of a registered trademark is quite illegal.
You’d think that there would have been just a bit of cognitive dissonance on the part of the Soviet citizens, all those bakery trucks driving around everywhere, but no bread on any of the store shelves.
They “vehicle” may not be illegal, but representing yourself to be a policeman, medic, and utility serviceman may be highly illiegal. The only problem is that cops may not have justification to stop the cloned vehicles.
If they are just figuring that out, then they certainly didn't watch Sleeper Cell, a couple of years ago.
...nor have they noticed Palistinian tactics, when it comes to ambulances and “U.N.” vehicles.
The vehicle is illegal. ANY unauthorized use of a registered trademark is illegal, just like copyright violations are illegal. If a police officer has any concerns about a whether a vehicle is actually authorized by the company whose logo it displays, this should be fairly easy to verify with large companies like FedEx and UPS, as well as with local utilities. Those companies know where their vehicles are supposed to be at all times. And sensitive locations, like government or military sites, fuel storage sites, etc. generally have a security guard in place to stop and identify vehicles before allowing them to proceed. It’s probably time to step up verification procedures.
Not really. To the extent that they are going off public roads, whether to private or government property, neither the vehicles nor the packages delivered by their drivers have to be allowed on the property. Any such location that thinks it might be a target can contact the companies in advance to set up verification procedures, so that it can be handled with a phone call when a truck shows us. Obviously, with things like FedEx and UPS trucks, it's often the same driver showing up every day, so verification wouldn't need to be done every day.
I think you’re absolutely right. In addition, most big companies now have electronic tracking of their vehicles, so an inquiry should reveal immediately whether it’s genuine or not.
I don’t think the druggies or human smugglers will keep on doing this for long, simply because now that it’s a known issue, corporate trucks are going to be subject to more scrutiny. Personally, I’m more worried about the one-off type of use - that is, long enough to get into a secure area and blow up.
Makes one wonder how many “fake” aka “cloned” trucks are driving around with bombs and other weapons.
I think you've just hit on the agenda behind the news release.
Maybe the lawyers in the trademark enforcement divisions of Fed Ex, WalMart and UPS will do a better job of stopping the drug trade and illegal smuggling than the Border Patrol since they directly lose something by allowing it to continue happening. (And yes, I’ve gone up against some of the biggest and scariest trademark lawyers and its no joking around with them.)
"An alert agent recognized that the "H" in the van's serial number is a letter used only on U.S. Border Patrol Jeep Wranglers. It should have been a "P."
Good. Now the smugglers know the correct letter to forge next time.
Everyone knew of the disappearances but were too afraid to do anything.
IIRC, Copyright law is MUCH harsher than Patent or Trademark.
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