In his five years with the department, he supervised the sky marshal program, security measures at airports and programs to curb cargo thefts.

Police said cargo thefts are common in Linden, which is near the ports of Elizabeth and Newark.

They said, however, that the $5 million in goods was probably only a small percentage of the total losses from cargo theft in and around the airport.

"Years ago, we lost the shipping industry and the docks as a result of cargo thefts," he said.

In 1997, losses from cargo theft drove a group of high-tech companies to adopt a similar plan.

Only about 10 percent of the country's roads are paved, and some major highways are plagued by cargo theft.

A measure of the potential security problems at Kennedy and other airports, law enforcement officials say, is the prevalence of both drug smuggling and cargo theft.

It is this: his voyages are being plagued by a series of cargo thefts.

In the 1960's and 70's, organized crime cargo theft was a major concern for air-freight companies.

These days, the authorities say, cargo thefts, generally of clothing, electronic equipment and jewelry, are usually made by employees of the freight and trucking companies.