The Transported Asset Protection Association (TAPA) projects another record high for cargo crimes in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region for 2019.
This comes after TAPA’s Incident Information Service (IIS) recorded a significant 77% increase in cargo theft amounting to a little over €9 million in losses for February.
According to TAPA, the low incident levels in 2018 “led to questions as to whether the number of freight thefts in the region were genuinely in decline, although the rapid escalation of losses in the second half of the year soon dispelled this optimistic theory”.
IIS data indicated that cargo crimes were likely to accelerate at a quicker pace.
After the 68.7% increase in incidents reports in January, February took a steep incline with over 285 crimes reported, a 77% increase from the 161 reported in February 2018.
Vehicle thefts accounted for 78.2% of the total incidents in February.
