California Nut Theft Analysis Essay

Introduction

The theft of nuts has become a tragedy and an unfortunate norm that has concerned the farmers. Such thefts have come with huge losses as mainly the farmers transact humongous quantum of packages to buyers. The theft of the massive cargo of the nuts has prompted investigators to imagine that special syndicates with well-organized crime and fraud networks. The crime has appeared to flourish in the state of California because there are certain loopholes in the supply chain that has enabled the characters to find a way. There are two approaches and ways to identify the loopholes and first is to check on the entry of the fraudsters and second is to check on the escape and seal-off mechanisms (Conlon, B. 2016, 397). Without a proper solution to the mess, the farmers will continue to suffer massive losses occasioned by the entry and transactional existence of the organised syndicates.

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Background

Police investigations have yielded little or no result with no particular person being prosecuted for the crimes and fraud. It is worth noting that, the cartels probably have studied the nut supply chain in California all the way from the production through the distribution to the buyers till the consumers. With such proper understanding, they well know that the link between the farmers and the market is weak and is based on sound faith and shady approval processes. They must also be aware that the supply chain of the nuts has been loosely delegated and divulged to weak departments in the farming and sales business organisations since the companies transact huge amounts of sales. An ensuing lacking institutional strength can then be attributed to poor verification of distributing companies and sales is weak. The solution to the problem appears tobe an approach to sealing supply chain leakages and addressing the business aspect of fixing the laxity.

Supply Chain

The supply chain if any industry involves the aggregate mechanism of production, processing and distribution to consumers. The process involves many participants in the process, and some play central roles while others play the peripheral role. The initial stage in a supply chain is the producer in the California case, is the farmer that endures the agricultural process of ensuring that the planted nuts thrive and meet the market quality that enhances swift sale. The farmers in California have mainly formed farmers association to collectively advocate for the issues of farmers whether politically through proper law and economically through collective bargaining and sales. Farmers have diverse the production stage and have adopted the role of processing and packaging for distribution sales (Robertson, A. 2018, 195-218). The existence of advancement of the sector has even led to the employment of sales and supply chain managers in the farm associations or single tier huge farms.

The next stage of the supply chain involves the distribution or transport stage that consists conveying the processed nets to the buyers through arranged transport mechanisms on cargo. Basically, the distribution franchise has grown to encompass companies that solely do distribution for the willing buyers who distribute to the consumers. Now a constant norm and feature of the industry, distributing companies play a huge part in the distribution network of nuts from California to other destined areas. Most of the nuts transported has not gone through value addition or food processing. The end part of the supply chain is the consumers who pick the processed nuts or the raw nuts from the retailers or grocery outlets. Secondary consumers are those that buy value-added products made from nuts.

Diagram 1

The following flow diagram represents the general movement of goods in the nut supply chain

Vulnerabilities

The appallingdisappearances of nut cargo have triggered intensive investigation pertaining the likely crevices in the supply chain. The weaknesses in every supply chain are prone to happen, but the debilitating norm is when the opportunistic leeches spin into action and exploit it. There are many vulnerabilities in the supply chain ranging from the breaching of the farm warehouse due to the possible hacking of the security systems or even a physical breach in the security apparatus whereby farm warehouses containingbulk storage are rarely under sufficient security(Johnson, R. & Cody, B. 2015). The security issue is pertinent to the transport and distribution as rarely are the trucks under enough surveillance to guarantee successful transportation. It is necessary to understand all the likely current loops that can be exploited. This study further concentrates on the central loopholes that the exploiters andopportunists have used to gain an advantage over the farmers hence plunging them into insurmountable losses.

The transport sector poses a considerable vulnerability having proved to be leading area of the supply chain that nut cargo goesunaccounted. Over the years, a vast percentage of the cargo have been reported to disappear while in transit to their destinations. First, the criminal syndicates have easily manoeuvred and obtained verification from brokers to conduct cargo transport (Vannieuwenborg, F et al. 2016, 1-20). Having evaded the authorities and eluded the suspicion of the brokers, the alleged criminals have the farmers at their mercy. Usually, they have proven to conduct their fraudulence efficiently leaving the farmers at extreme losses. Not only are they intelligent but have the economic muscle and manpower to perform the conspired actions. Checking from the capabilities of the exploiters, it is visible that they are insurmountable and not easy to be picked out. Some of the fraudsters represent themselves as the intended receivers of the products and have successfully intercepted goods and cargo.

Table 1

Table showing the numerical value of agricultural products in California in the year 2016

Table 2

The chart below exhibits the total cost of nut theft in California

Table 3

The table below illustrates the numerical comparison of the incidences of theft and consequent loses

Solutions

To effectively solve the disappearance and theft of cargo, it is essential to seal all the vulnerabilities that have been exploited and even the likely areas that the fraudsters may exploit. Such a holistic manner of approach can deliver a resuscitating breath to the industry and eventually rid-off the system of the travails of misfortune, robbery and fraud. It begins by ensuring that the likely beach of the storages in the production units and warehouses in the farms are well protected and guarded as to ensure that the syndicates do not find a way to rob the farm resource. The boosting of security could involve integrating the archetypal physical surveillance with digital systems such as surveillance cameras and digital alert systems(Christopher, M. 2016). In systems whereby integrated digital verification can assess the cargo and farm produce, such verification can be boosted by ensuring secondary subsequent approvals of access by other integral staff.

In the transport sector, the problem of fraud and disappearance of cargo on the road can be solved through thorough verification of transport service companies. The cargo companies ought to be given a background check on the company and the staff. In other cases, it is essential for the producers to use a consistent cargo distributor with reputation. In cases whereby the receiver sends a cargo carrier to pick the goods, there ought to be a communication and confirmation between the receiver the head office of the distribution carrier and the sender to verify the person driving the cargo as well as the legitimacy. It becomes an added advantage to boost the surveillance of products, such as the attachment of trackers to the cargo to ensure that they reach the specified target as required.

Table 4

Table showing savings on revenue if recommendations were enacted

Conclusions

The theft occasioning the nut industry is due to the explained vulnerabilities and is temporary pending advancements and changes to the manner of transactions and business by the various stakeholders. It is not that the fraud is widespread, but when well planned by the syndicates, they do cause the unfortunate farmer lots of money regarding returns on sale. While having been given the focus of the investigation and the privilege of police priority, the theft has been lauded as among the most well covered that no trace of evidence has been found to pin down any suspects. Adding to the problem, the farms have adopted a behaviour to be quiet and do fail to report the incidents to the police in fear of being subjects to public discussion. The resentment to the private investigation has the capacity of helping conceal the syndicates in public as they could be easily mapped out due to evidence that might be brought by the public. However, the private and non-publicized investigation has the advantage of ambushing the syndicates as they cannot be able to fully track the efforts of the police or investigators. With many plans proposed, it stands to be seen the kind of vents that unfold with the enactment of changed approaches.

References

Conlon, B., 2016. The Dynamics of Domestic and International Cargo Theft. SMU Sci. & Tech. L. Rev., 19, p.397.

Robertson, A., 2018. Theft at work. In Profiling property crimes (pp. 195-218). Routledge.

Johnson, R. and Cody, B.A., 2015. California Agricultural Production and Irrigated Water Use. Congressional Research Service: Washington, DC, USA.

Christopher, M., 2016. Logistics & supply chain management. Pearson UK.

Vannieuwenborg, F., Lannoo, B., Verbrugge, S. and Colle, D., 2016. Smart containers: quantifying the potential impact. In ITS Biennial (International Telecommunications Society) World conference (pp. 1-20).