Another €21 Million of Products Stolen in 919 Recorded Cargo Thefts in 30 Countries in June

Cargo thieves were active in 30 countries in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region in June, stealing over €21 million of products from supply chains in 30 days.

Less than 12% of the 919 incidents reported to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) confirmed their loss values but these 110 crimes still contributed to a daily loss of €707,519 during the month or an average value per crime of €192,959.

June saw a total of 28 major cargo crimes, recorded as incidents with a value of €100,000 or more. These accounted for over €19.6 million of the total loss value in June with these crimes averaging losses of €702,470. The incidents Vigilant is authorised to report included:

€4,000,000 – the theft of a large quantity of luxury watches from a retail facility in Monaco on 3 June.
€1,600,000 – a truck and its unspecified cargo stolen in Leganés, Madrid, on 11 June.
€1,400,000 – a shipment of pharmaceuticals taken from an Origin Facility in Napoli, Italy.
€1,000,000 – power tools stolen from an unknown location in Ashford in southeast England, on 23 June.
€766,945 – police arrested suspects on 27 June following a violent robbery of a warehouse in Kempton Park in South Africa’s Gauteng province and the theft of a large consignment of alcohol products.
€700,000 – 15 kilos of gold bars were stolen while en route in Italy during a transfer in Badia al Pino in Tuscany on 29 June.
€500,000 – cash stolen from a luxury goods retail facility in Rome, Italy, on 9 June.
€500,000 – a crime with an Internal M.O. involving the loss of several tonnes of wheat from an Origin Facility in Fuenta Palmera, Spain, on 24 June.
€350,000 – cosmetics stolen from an Origin Facility in Lombardy, Italy, on 7 June.
€312,000 – a cargo theft reported in Finland on 24 June, but no further intelligence has so far been shared with TAPA EMEA.
€300,000 – the theft of cash from a Services 3^rd Party Facility in Vitinia, Italy, on 4 June.
€289,049 – South African Police arrested two suspects in Johannesburg in connection to thefts of clothing, watches, and sunglasses on 7 June.
€166,585 – 318 televisions stolen on 5 June from a trailer in an Unclassified Parking Location north of Ontigola in Spain.
€150,000 – tools stolen from an Origin Facility in Veneto, Italy, on 17 June.
€104,000 – a truck hijacking in Kempton Park in South Africa’s Gauteng province on 12 June and the loss of miscellaneous goods.
€100,000 – jewellery/precious metals taken from a retail facility in Senigallia, Marche, Italy, on 7 June.
€100,000 – fuel, copper, and household appliances stolen on 7 June from an Origin Facility in Perugia, Italy.
€100,000 – the loss of a truck from an Unclassified Parking Location in Hawick, Scotland, on 19 June.

Another 12 crimes in June – with a combined value of €752,777 – recorded loss values of between €50,000 and €100,000 and these included:

€84,731 – miscellaneous goods stolen in Klapmuts, Western Cape, South Africa, on 7 June.
€74,363 – a truck driver was detailed in Zhukovskiy, Moscow, Russia, on 6 June after the loss of unspecified goods.
€60,000 – copper cables stolen from an Origin Facility in the German state of Baden-Württemberg on 29 June.
€50,603 – a suspect was arrested in Bellville in Western Cape after the theft of motorcycle parts was discovered on 28 June
€50,600 – police in Chatsworth in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province arrested eight foreign nationals in connection with a large theft of phone batteries on 14 June.
€50,000 – TIS was notified of the theft of tools/building materials from a van in an Unclassified Parking Location in Wembley, UK, on 6 June.

In Spain, police made a series of arrests linked to cargo crime investigations. 11 suspects were detained in Madrid and other locations on 26 June related to thefts from trucks and warehouses. On 4 June, six people were arrested in connection with a series of thefts from trucks in service areas in Catalonia.

Spain was one of the top 5 countries for cargo thefts reported to TAPA EMEA in June. The top 5 accounted for over 80% of these latest monthly losses:

Germany – 219 incidents, 23.8% of the June total
United Kingdom – 168 or 18.2%
Italy – 157 or 17%
France – 107 or 11.6%
Spain – 91 or 9.9%

Six other countries recorded double-digit losses:

South Africa – 41 incidents
Netherlands – 23
Austria – 22
Russia – 12
Poland – 12
Belgium – 11

20 TIS product categories recorded losses in June, seven of which saw double-digit cases of cargo thefts:

Fuel – 68 or 7.4% of the June total
Metal – 31 or 3.3%
Cash – 28 or 3%
Tools/Building Materials – 25 or 2.7%
Food & Drink – 25 or 2.7%
No Load (Theft of truck and/or trailer) – 23 or 2.5%
Miscellaneous Electronics – 16 or 1.7%

While Vigilant is unable to share more detailed incident information, June’s data contains the two Theft from Moving Vehicle crimes in the Netherlands reported in last month’s issue. Police reports confirmed high value product losses results from the attacks on trucks on the A12 between Ede and the German border and between Waalwijk and Ede.

Other incidents reported to the TIS database in June included:

Thieves stole 25,000 kilos of oranges from a truck as it was travelling in Carmona, Spain.
120 visual display units were stolen from a truck in an Unsecured Parking Location between Zaragoza and Barcelona in Spain.
3,744 solar panels were taken from a vehicle while it was en route in Roosendaal in the Netherlands.
Another 186 solar panels were stolen from an Origin Facility in Valladolid, Spain.
7,000 metal vineyard posts were taken from an Origin Facility in Alfaro, Spain.
1,500 bottles of wine were stolen from a warehouse in Tonnerre in north-central France.

Falling fuel prices compared to their peak a few months ago are certainly not resulting in a downturn in diesel thefts from trucks in EMEA. Another 68 fuel thefts were recorded in EMEA in June, 51 of which occurred in Germany. Losses were also reported to TIS in Cyprus, France, Israel, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

ANONYMOUS REPORTING OF CARGO CRIMES IN EMEA

All cargo theft reports to TAPA EMEA remain 100% anonymous. The names of companies impacted by cargo crime or the individuals reporting incidents never appear in our TIS intelligence. Cargo crime information can be shared with us at tisteam@tapaemea.org