€36.8m of Products Stolen from Supply Chains in EMEA in 31 days

2024 bowed out with a fourth consecutive month of double-digit financial losses for cargo thefts in the Europe, Middle East & Africa region, based on supply chain crimes reported to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS).

The 31 days of December have so far seen 430 new cargo crimes added to the TIS database, including 113 or 26.2% with a loss value, which produced a total financial impact of €36,859,299.

The average loss in December for all cargo crimes reported to TAPA EMEA with a value was €326,188 – producing an average theft of goods from supply chains in the region of €1,189,009 every 24 hours across the entire month.

The biggest single loss involved the interception of a shipment of counterfeit goods by border police in Durban, South Africa, on 19 December with a reported value of more than €10.2 million. This high value single loss pushed the average value of all 35 major cargo thefts targeting goods worth €100K or more beyond seven figures to €1,002,161.

December’s loss value was the second highest monthly total recorded by TIS in 2024 following the €40,255,270 of losses reported in TAPA EMEA’s Vigilant e-Magazine in November. This followed totals of €23,488,550 and €19,207,442 in October and September respectively.

Other major cargo thefts in December included:

€1,000,000 – a violent Theft from Vehicle crime on 20 December and the loss of 300 luxury brand bags.
€577,053 – this incident report on 26 December stated that a student left in temporary change of a retail store stole miscellaneous goods in Moscow. No further details are available.
€334,000 – on 24 December, a large quantity of sports equipment was stolen from a distribution facility in the city of Jaén in southern Spain.
€301,109 – a violent attack on a cash-in-transit vehicle in Vaalbank in South Africa’s Mpumalanga province on 19 December. Police later arrested two suspects.
€300,000 – a significant theft of fuel in Avezzano, Italy, on 20 December.
€206,854 – miscellaneous goods stolen from an Origin Facility warehouse in Isipingo, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on 2 December.
€201,000 – the theft of a shipment of cosmetics from a truck in an unclassified parking location in Saran, France, on 4 December.
€200,000 – luxury handbags stolen from a retail facility in London, United Kingdom, on 3 December.
€186,156 – more counterfeit goods, this time seized by police while en route in Kamaqhekeza, Mpumalanga, South Africa, on 9 December.
€150,000 – lighting and sanitary equipment stolen on 19 December from containers in Heidelberg, Germany.
€134,455 – a truck driver was reportedly drugged during this violent hijacking of a vehicle transporting a shipment of televisions in South Africa’s Gauteng province on 10 December. The offenders posed as police officers to intercept the vehicle. Seven suspects have since been detained and the cargo has been recovered.
€100,000 – a theft of jewellery from a retail facility in Porto Sant’Elpidio in Marche, Italy, on 14 December.
€100,000 – a loss of several tonnes of copper cable taken from an Origin Facility in Meppen, Lower Saxony, Germany, on 13 December.

Italy recorded the highest number of major cargo thefts (€100K+) in December with nine incidents, followed by Germany (7), South Africa (6), France (4), Spain (4), United Kingdom (2),and single crimes in Poland, Romania, and Russia.

TIS also received reports of 13 other cargo crimes reporting a loss of between €50,000 and €100,000. These accounted for €924,307 of the total loss in December and included:

€70,000 – a Theft of Trailer crime in Bradford in West Yorkshire, UK, and its cargo of food and drink.
€70,000 – a truck was stolen from an Origin Facility in Neu Roggentin, Germany, on 18 December.
€62,298 – offenders hijacked a truck in Mooinooi in the North West province of South Africa on 13 December. Information on the goods stolen was not recorded.
€50,000 – another theft of copper, this time from an Origin Facility in Gudensberg, Germany, on 13 December.

TAPA EMEA was notified of cargo thefts from supply chains in 36 countries across the region in December. Germany accounted for 139 of >32% of these crimes, while six other countries recorded double digit rates of incidents:

Italy – 44 crimes, 10.2% of the December total
Spain – 43 or 10%
United Kingdom – 42 or 9.7%
France – 38 or 8.8%
South Africa – 36 or 8.3%
Netherlands – 14 or 3.2%

Products targeted over the 31 days of the month covered 19 TIS categories. Fuel thefts continued to account for a high percentage of all crimes impacting supply chains in EMEA, with another 112 incidents in December. Double-digit losses were also recorded for:

Metal – 32 incidents
Cash – 28
Food & Drink – 22
Tools/Building Materials – 18
No Load (Theft of truck and/or trailer) – 13
Miscellaneous Electronics – 12

TIS data shows that the M.O of Violent & Threat with Violence was signalled in 37 of the month’s criminal attacks.

Other incidents TAPA EMEA is authorised to share for this reporting period included:

50 phones stolen from a logistics warehouse in Sofia, Bulgaria.
35 televisions taken from a household appliances distribution company in Badajoz, Spain.
600 kilos of fish stolen after the theft of a vehicle en route in Sorrento, Italy.
3,720 litres of fuel stolen from 15 trucks parked in Bezana, Spain.

On a more positive note, Spain’s national police were reported to have successfully dismantled a criminal network responsible for importing nearly 2,000 tons of counterfeit goods into Europe.

Details of these and all cargo thefts reported to TAPA EMEA can be accessed by the Association’s members by logging into the TIS database via their MyTAPA login.

Report cargo crimes to TAPA EMEA via tisteam@tapaemea.org