444 New cargo thefts and € 3.4 Mio of losses
The number of cargo crime incidents reported to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) in September rose 27% month-over-month as increased petty crimes and fuel thefts brought on by the cost-of-living crisis and ongoing war in Ukraine continued to challenge supply chains in the Europe, Middle East & Africa region.
Overall, TIS has so far recorded 444 new cargo thefts in September 2022 in 38 countries in EMEA, also up significantly over the 21 countries suffering cargo thefts in the previous month. This may reflect the far-reaching impact of the cost-of-living pressures.
Only 37.6% or 167 of these crimes gave a value, producing a combined loss of €3,475,150 or an average of €20,934 per incident.
Five major cargo thefts with a value of €100,000 or more were reported to the TIS database with a total value of €991,555 or an average of €198,311.
Vigilant can report on four of these crimes:
€200,000
Offenders stole a cargo of miscellaneous goods by breaking into a trailer parked in an unspecified location in Cluj, Romania, on 7 September.
€162,602
On 6 September, at an unclassified parking location in Novosibirsk, Russia, thieves also stole a large shipment of miscellaneous goods before making their escape.
€154,000
On the same day, 6 September, TAPA EMEA was also notified of another six-figure cargo loss, in this case miscellaneous goods stolen from a location in the city of Sabha, Libya.
€100,000
In Castelfidardo, Italy, on 13 September, thieves broke into several facilities and stole a large amount of copper and one truck.
TAPA EMEA also recorded another 13 incidents with a loss value of between €50K-€100K in the past month, including:
• €88,032 – On 6 September, a shipment containing various goods was stolen from a facility in Kensington in South Africa’s Gauteng province.
• €61,286 – Unspecified cargo was also stolen from a Destination Facility in Suzdal, Russia, on 6 September.
• €50,970– On the same day, in Neustadt Glewe, Germany, another cargo shipment was reported stolen.
• €50,000 – Thieves stole a trailer and a telehandler from a company premises in Kassel, Germany, on 18 September, two days after another €50,000 of unspecified goods were stolen in Hesse, Germany.
In September, 121 or 27.3% of all recorded incidents took place in Germany. Of the 38 countries suffering thefts from supply chains, six – including Germany – accounted for 72.9% of all crimes over the 30 days of the month. The others were:
• United Kingdom – 49 incidents or 11%
• Italy – 44 or 9.9%
• France – 43 or 9.7%
• The Netherlands – 36 or 8.1%
• Spain – 31 or 7%
The highest single incident category in September was Theft from Vehicle with 142 incidents or 32.0% of the total. With Theft from Trailer, Theft of Trailer and Theft of Vehicle crimes added to this, incidents involving vehicles accounted for 55.2% of all crimes reported to TIS for the month. Crimes involving Theft from Facility were statistically higher than usual, with 83 incidents or 18.7% of the monthly total.
Fuel thefts were especially prevalent in Germany, which accounted for 24 of the 30 such incidents in September, most involving losses of just hundreds of litres of diesel, including from several vehicles at single locations. In Eastern Cape, South Africa, on 5 September, a truck driver whose vehicle was hijacked was made to drive to a beach area and assist with emptying his fuel tank into waiting drums. Fuel thefts were also recorded in France and the UK.
If you have cargo crime intelligence to share with TAPA EMEA, please send it to tisteam@tapaemea.org
