€7.8 Million of losses in July

The gang mentality involved in so many major cargo thefts in South Africa struck again in July when 16 offenders with firearms stormed an Origin Facility in Kempton Park, Gauteng province, and stole trailers loaded with goods valued at €2,250,000.

This crime on 3 July was one of 276 reported to the TAPA EMEA intelligence System (TIS) over the 31 days of the month. In total, the 58.3% of incidents recorded by TIS in July produced a combined loss of €7,841,632 or €252,955 per day or €49,010 for every crime stating a value. This included 10 crimes major crimes with losses of €100K or more, which reported an average value of €521,421. 

Vigilant is able to share information on another six of these high-value cargo thefts:  

€575.580

On 7 July, the first of several major copper thefts was reported to the TIS database. This incident involved the violent hijacking of a truck in Johannesburg. 

€500.000

Thieves broke into an Authorised 3^rd Party Facility in the Dutch province of North Brabant and stole a consignment of perfumes from a truck on 18 July. 

€355.655

In Mbombela, the capital of South Africa’s Mpumalanga province, on 5 July, 38 tons of copper rods and 14 steel bins containing copper briquettes were stolen from a trailer parked in an unspecified location.

€216.000

A truckload of tyres was stolen while en route in Lisbon, Portugal, on 10 July. 

€172.890

A third major theft of copper was recorded on 14 July after thieves hijacked a truck carrying 25 tons of the metal in Deal Party in South Africa’s Eastern Cape. Police later arrested suspects in connection with this crime. 

€100.000

On 11 July, 20 pallets of soft drinks were stolen from a truck parked at a Destination Facility in Frankfurt, Germany. 

Another 10 incidents with loss values of between €50K-€100K accounted for €608,438 of July’s financial loss total, which included:   

• €80.000 – An employee stole unspecified goods from his Origin Facility workplace in Leopoldsdorf, Austria, during a 12-month period before finally being caught on 14 July.
• €59.505 – On 1 July, thieves broke into a storage container at a Railway Operation Facility in London, United Kingdom, and stole specialist train components. 
• €59.220 – In yet another truck hijacking in South Africa, electronic products and household appliances were stolen in Cape Town on 18 July.
• €55.503 – On the Serbia/Hungary border on 21 July, another shipment of household appliances, in this instance deep fat fryers, was taken from a container at a Railway Operations Facility.

Cargo crimes were reported to the TIS database in July in 17 countries, including the top 5 of Germany (73 incidents), Italy (45), United Kingdom (44), Spain (26), and France (25). The other 12 countries were the Netherlands (22), Poland (17), South Africa (13), Belgium (2), Croatia (2), and seven countries with single recorded crimes; Austria, Botswana, Denmark, Hungary, Portugal, Romania, and Switzerland.  

JULY 2022

Location Type:

• Origin Facility – 117 (42.4%)
• Unknown – 81 (29.3%)
• En Route – 29 (10.5%)
• Destination Facility – 28 (10.1%)
• Unclassified Parking – 11 (4.0%)
• Services 3^rd Party Facility – 5 (1.8%)
• Railway Services Facility – 2 (0.7%)
• Authorised 3^rd Party Facility – 1 (0.4%)
• Maritime Transportation Facility – 1 (0.4%)
• Secured Parking Location – 1 (0.4%)

Modus Operandi:

• Unknown – 184 (66.7%)
• Intrusion – 69 (25%)
• Internal – 13 (4.7%)
• Violent or threat with violence – 7 (2.5%)
• Deception Other – 3 (1.1%)

Incident Category:

• Theft from Vehicle – 133 (48.2%)
• Theft – 46 (16.7%)
• Theft from Facility – 41 (14.9%)
• Theft of Vehicle – 14 (5.1%)
• Theft from Trailer – 11 (4.0%)
• Unknown – 10 (3.6%)
• Theft from Container – 5 (1.8%)
• Hijacking – 4 (1.4%)
• Theft of Trailer – 4 (1.4%)
• Fraud – 2 (0.7%)
• Robbery – 2 (0.7%)
• Truck Theft – 2 (0.7%)
• Clandestine 1 (0.4%)
• Theft of Container 1 (0.4%)

Product Category: 

• Miscellaneous – 189 (68.5%)
• Metal – 28 (10.1%)
• Unspecified – 19 (6.9%)
• Fuel Theft – 7 (2.5%)
• Tools/Building Materials – 6 (2.2%)
• Food & Drink – 5 (1.8%)
• Cash – 4 (1.4%)
• Clothing & Footwear – 4 (1.4%)
• No Load (Theft of truck and/or trailer) – 3 (1.1%)
• Bicycles – 2 (0.7%)
• Cosmetics & Hygiene – 2 (0.7%)
• Furniture/Household Appliances – 2 (0.7%)
• Tyres – 2 (0.7%)
• Car Parts – 1 (0.4%)
• Computers/Laptops – 1 (0.4%)
• Toys/Games – 1 (0.4%)