Almost $3M in stolen tungsten oxide powder meant for Japan recovered in Hancock County

A reported stolen cargo valued at nearly $3 million was found and recovered with an arrest in Hancock County.

Greenfield Police officers were alerted to a wanted semi tractor / trailer around 6 a.m. Saturday traveling along Interstate 70 westbound entering Hancock County. The vehicle was involved in a theft of cargo in Pennsylvania on June 25.  Officers located the wanted truck and trailer near the Greenfield exit and conducted a traffic stop on Interstate 70.

The driver of the truck was identified as Deepak Kumar, 31, of Fresno, California.  Kumar was suspected of using fraudulent documents to obtain a load of nearly 40,000 pounds of tungsten oxide powder that was being shipped to Japan.  The value of the cargo Kumar fraudulently received is $2,857,500. It was being shipped to Mitsubishi Materials Corporation in Japan.

No further information was given for how Kumar gained control of the cargo.

An arrest warrant was issued by the State of Pennsylvania, accusing Kumar of Theft by Unlawful Taking Movable Property and Criminal Use of Communication Facility.  Kumar was arrested at the stop location and taken to the Hancock County Jail.  The Hancock County Prosecutor’s Office will determine if Kumar will be criminally charged with Indiana crimes related to the traffic stop and subsequent search warrant findings.

The truck and trailer were impounded by Inman’s Towing of Greenfield and held as evidence pending a search warrant request.  A search warrant for the truck and trailer was later issued and officers confirmed the stolen cargo was present in the trailer.  A representative of Mitsubishi Materials Corporation arrived in Greenfield on Sunday and took possession of the stolen cargo.