The Transported Asset Protection Association (Tapa) has named South Africa as one of seven countries that have recorded double-digit incidents of cargo theft during the first nine months of this year.
It is also the infamous holder of the title for the highest value crime which involved a seven-figure loss of diamonds, earrings, necklaces and watches after thieves forced their way into a luxury goods warehouse in South Africa and overpowered the staff.
The incident took place at an Origin Facility in Sandton, on 9 August.
Tapa’s Incident Information Service (IIS) reports that cargo worth more than €80 million was stolen from supply chains in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (Emea) region during the period under review.
Cargo thefts were recorded from all modes of transport as thieves targeted products moving via road, air, ocean and rail services, averaging a loss of €293 000 every single day of the year, based on crime- sharing financial data with the Association.
According to Thorsten Neumann, president and CEO of Tapa Emea, the spike in crime is encouraging more members to come on board, with the organisation’s membership at its highest level ever.
In the third quarter of 2019, Tapa received reports of cargo losses in 22 countries in Emea. France and the Netherlands recorded the highest number of crimes in the Association’s IIS database, due largely to the support and crime information given to Emea by law enforcement agencies in both countries. France saw a total of 146 actual or attempted cargo thefts, 24.5% of the Q3/19 total, while the Netherlands accounted for 136 or 22.8%.
Seven other countries recorded double-digit incident rates:
- United Kingdom – 70 incidents or 11.8% of the Q3 total
- Russia – 66 or 11.1%
- Germany – 38 or 6.4%
- Spain – 37 or 6.2%
- South Africa – 36 or 6%
- Italy – 15 or 2.5%
- Belgium – 11 or 1.9%
