Feds charge driver in alleged $12 million cargo theft scheme built on hijacked carrier identities

Federal prosecutors have charged a driver in an alleged cargo theft conspiracy that hijacked established carrier identities to steal at least 24 freight shipments, according to FreightWaves on Oct. 22, reporting an announcement by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Connecticut on Oct. 21. Nursulton Khaydarov, 33, a citizen of Uzbekistan and a lawful permanent resident of the United States, pleaded not guilty during an appearance in federal court in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

As alleged in court documents, the scheme ran from approximately September 2025: Khaydarov and others purchased or otherwise assumed control of multiple motor carrier companies, including their U.S. Department of Transportation numbers, motor carrier identification numbers, business email accounts and the identities of their owners. They then posed as the previous business owners and exploited the reputation and trust of the established businesses to obtain contracts for interstate shipments, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Once a contract was negotiated with a freight broker, a driver picked up the shipment from the distribution location — but the load never made it to its intended destination and was subsequently reported stolen. At times, co-conspirators made ransom demands for the return of the stolen load, prosecutors allege.

The indictment alleges the conspiracy involved thefts of at least 24 cargo loads containing hard drives, stereo equipment, clothing, electronics, computer equipment, food items, nicotine products and other goods. To date, the estimated retail value of the stolen products in the cargo thefts Khaydarov was personally involved in is more than $12 million. FreightWaves reported that, according to the indictment and an FBI affidavit, participants switched tractor license plates, used burner phones with encrypted messaging applications and worked to defeat electronic shipment tracking; investigators identified approximately $121,000 in cryptocurrency received across 33 transactions in Khaydarov's Coinbase account between November 2025 and May 2026, though they did not establish that every transfer represented ransom.

Khaydarov held a valid New Jersey commercial driver's license, prosecutors say, and also possessed fraudulent driver's licenses in the names of "Sayid Makhmudarov," "Rustam Mavlonov," "Dmitri Aganin," "Roman Smirov" and "Kairat Nurtas" — each depicting a photograph of Khaydarov with altered facial features. In one documented incident, a pistachio shipment left Terra Bella, California, for Laredo, Texas, on Dec. 19, 2025, with the driver presenting an Illinois license identifying him as Sayid Makhmudarov; state records showed no matching license, and photographs connected that document to Khaydarov, according to FreightWaves.

Khaydarov was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on June 1, 2026, in Ontario, California, and has been detained since his arrest. A federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment on Sept. 22, 2026, charging him with conspiracy, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years. The investigation is being led by the FBI with assistance from the U.S. Department of Transportation's Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations and the Fullerton and Ontario, California, police departments, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David T. Huang and Larysa J. Kern. U.S. Attorney David X. Sullivan stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt: the charges are only allegations, and Khaydarov is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Anyone with information relevant to the investigation can contact the FBI's New Haven Field Office at (203) 777-6311.