The third quarter of this year saw a 10.6% year-on-year spike in cargo crime incidents in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, according to statistics released by the Transported Asset Protection Association (Tapa).
The Association’s Incident Information Service (IIS) recorded 238 cargo crime incidents in the three months to 30 September 2015, including one loss of €1.4 million of postage stamps following a theft from a warehouse in Ile-de-France near Paris, and the theft of €635 000 of cosmetics and fragrances from a truck parked overnight in Rugby, UK.
Only 18% of the 238 new cargo crimes reported a value but the total loss for these incidents alone was €4 310 075. This includes 10 major crimes with a loss value in excess of €100 000. Three of these highest value crimes occurred in the United Kingdom, two took place in France and thefts were also recorded in Belgium, Italy, Kenya, Netherlands and Norway.
In total, cargo thefts were reported in 19 countries in the EMEA region in the third quarter, targeting 14 different product categories. 91.5% of all crimes took place in just six countries; Netherlands, UK, Belgium, Germany, France and South Africa, with Food & Drink products the most targeted goods in crimes where the product type was indicated. Tapa also recorded thefts from the supply chain of Clothing & Footwear, Furniture & Household Appliances, Computers & Laptops, Cosmetics & Hygiene, Tobacco, Metal, Tools & Building Materials, Tyres & Car Parts, Pharmaceuticals, Toys & Games, Cash, Bicycles and Phones.
The Netherlands was the country with the highest number of cargo crime incidents in the three months with 105 and the United Kingdom was next with 53. This partly reflects the proactive approach of Dutch and UK law enforcement agencies in capturing and sharing data related to cargo crime.
The vast majority of cargo losses involve high value, theft-attractive products moving on trucks. 46.3% of incidents involved Theft from Vehicle, 13.5% were Theft of Vehicle and 9.3% were recorded as Theft of Trailer. Tapa EMEA’s IIS also captured intelligence on losses as a result of Truck Theft, Theft from Trailer, Clandestine, and Hijacking.
Thefts from facilities accounted for only 3.4% of the 238 incidents in Q3 2015.
Trucks stopped at unsecured parking locations continued to be at the greatest risk of attack by cargo thieves, according to the Q3 2015 data. 52.1% of 124 cargo thefts were reported as taking place at such locations, usually at lay-bys close to major roads and on industrial estates.
