349 Thefts in 21 countries in August
Cargo crime intelligence reported to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) in August shows more signs of the types of petty crimes expected to grow across the region as the ‘cost of living’ crisis and ongoing war in Ukraine continues. In fact, 23% of all crimes with a reported value in the month of August were for thefts valued at under €5,000.
Nevertheless, total cargo theft losses for the month were still substantial, with €4,392,799 of goods reported stolen to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System during August – and, as always, this will likely be only a fraction of the true level of cargo crime in the EMEA region with most incidents still not being reported to the Association.
Overall, TIS has so far recorded 349 new cargo thefts in August 2022, based on reports of incidents in 21 countries in the EMEA region. Only 32.4% or 113 of these crimes gave a value and these produced an average of €39,221 per incident.
Eight major cargo thefts with a value of €100,000 or more were identified by TIS with a total value of €2,417,345 or an average of €302,168. Vigilant is authorised to report on two of these crimes:
€351,000
At a Destination Facility in Birmingham, UK, on 26 August, unknown perpetrators stole a large cargo of miscellaneous goods. No further information was made available.
€230,000
On 16 August, cargo thieves hijacked a truck and trailer transporting a container loaded with air conditioning units. The crime took place at a secured parking location in Madrid, Spain, according to the intelligence report.
TAPA EMEA has so far recorded another eight incidents with a loss value of between
€50K-€100K in the past month:
• €88,813 – On 21 August, two offenders were caught offloading chocolate bars worth €88,813 at a Maritime Transportation Facility in Kensington, South Africa, that had previously been stolen
from Cape Town Harbour. The date of the incident is unknown therefore, the article publishing date is used.
• €88,813 – Three people were caught in possession of a hijacked truck and boxes of meat in Cape Town, South Africa. This crime was recorded in the TIS database on 21 August.
• €69,784 – On 3 August, thieves stole 2 tons of copper cables from an Origin Facility in Mariannhill, South Africa.
• €53,160 – An employee was arrested in connection to the theft of a cargo of miscellaneous goods from a truck in an Unclassified Parking Location in Shakhty, Russia, on 29 August.
• €50,000 – Unknown persons stole a trailer parked in an Unclassified Parking Location that was loaded with building materials, including drywall panels and laminate flooring in Neustadt-glewe, Germany, on 13 August. In August, 82 or 23.5% of the incidents recorded were in the United Kingdom, which was the highest national total during this period.
Of the 21 countries suffering thefts from supply chains, five – including the UK –accounted for 78.9% of all crimes over the 30 days of the month.
The other countries were:
• Germany– 77 incidents or 22.1% of the total crimes recorded in August
• Italy – 54 or 15.5%
• France – 37 or 10.6%
• The Netherlands – 25 or 7.2%
Theft from Facility crimes dropped for the second consecutive month during August but still accounted for 49 incidents or 14% of the monthly total. The highest single incident category during the month was Theft from Vehicle with 174 incidents or 49.6% of the total. With Theft from Trailer and Theft of Vehicle crimes added to this, the top 3 incidents involving vehicles accounted for 67.7% of all crimes reported to TIS in August.
If you have cargo crime intelligence to share with TAPA EMEA, please send it to tisteam@tapaemea.org
