Indiana truck driver arrested in $2.9 million tungsten oxide theft bound for Japan

Deepak Kumar, a 31‑year‑old driver from Fresno, California, was stopped on I‑70 in Hancock County, Indiana, after police linked his semi‑truck to a cargo theft reported in Pennsylvania. Officers said Kumar used fraudulent documents to obtain nearly 40,000 pounds of tungsten oxide powder valued at about $2.86 million, intended for Mitsubishi Materials Corporation in Japan. He was arrested, the truck and trailer were impounded, and the cargo was recovered. A Pennsylvania arrest warrant charged him with theft of movable property and criminal use of a communication facility, and Indiana authorities will pursue additional charges. A Mitsubishi Materials representative later retrieved the seized material in Greenfield.

The incident highlights the use of falsified shipping paperwork to divert high‑value industrial chemicals and the coordinated response of state police across state lines.