TIS Records cargo crimes in 35 countries in EMEA with €5.7 MILLION of goods targeted in 30 days

Newly-reported cargo thefts by country saw their highest rate since last summer in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region in April, as the enhanced TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) recorded cargo losses and attempted thefts from supply chains in 35 countries, more than twice as many as in the previous month. 

To date, TIS has collated intelligence on 242 incidents in the last calendar month. Despite – or possibly because of – the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the highest value loss in April was the €1,636,275 of miscellaneous products, from a facility in the southeastern city of Melitopol. This was one of 10 cargo crimes recorded in Ukraine. Other locations for thefts included Armiansk, Boryspil and Lviv.    

The cost-of-living crisis engulfing the EMEA region may be one of the reasons for the geographic spread of recorded incidents in April, as Organised Crime Groups leveraged the potential of an enlarged black market for all types of goods. Cash-strapped individuals may also be behind some of the lower-level product losses.  In South Africa, four offenders were arrested for stopping trucks under the pretext of a protest against living costs, possibly a new type of M.O. to look out for as public dissent gathers momentum in many countries.     

In just the 30 days of April, TIS recorded incidents involving goods worth more than €5,774,118 – and this was based on only 57 or 23.5% of these crimes sharing a reported value. This produced an average loss for cargo crimes with a value last month of €101,300.

As well as the biggest loss in Ukraine, TIS was notified of a further five major cargo thefts involving losses or attempted thefts of products worth €100K or more. These contributed to the average loss for major crimes in April of €813,749. The other high value incidents were:

€1,5000,000

Thieves tried to steal €1.5 million of miscellaneous products from a moving HGV while it was en route in France on 20 April. The offenders have since been arrested. 

€855,800

Unknown perpetrators jumped up onto a truck parked at an Origin Facility in Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom on 19 April and escaped with a shipment of perfume products.  

€490,100

On 13 April, in an unreported location in Russia, a delivery vehicle and its cargo of miscellaneous goods were stolen. No further intelligence was reported to TIS.  

€300,320

As the fuel crisis continues, TAPA EMEA continues to receive reports of significant fuel thefts. In April, fuel was the TIS product category with the highest number of recorded losses. In this incident, diesel fuel worth €300,320 was stolen from a maritime facility in Plymouth in the southwest of the United Kingdom on 6 April.  

€100,000

On 26 April, police arrested six members of a cargo theft gang in Madrid, Spain. According to the incident  report, they has stolen two trucks loaded with household appliances worth €100,000. The stolen trucks and most of their cargoes have since been recovered by the police.  

A further €501,427 of April’s total loss figures was attributed to the seven cargo crimes within the €50K-€100K value range, including:

• €96,800 – On 13 April, a delivery vehicle and its cargo of miscellaneous goods was stolen in St Petersburg, Russia.  
• €86,000 – A shipment of pharmaceuticals was taken from a truck as it was en route in Russia on 18 April.  
• €70,170 – Still in Russia, on 30 April, a consignment of miscellaneous goods was stolen by employees working in an Origin Facility in Moscow.  
• €60,000 – A refrigerated truck was stolen from a motorway services area in Bruena in the German state of Hesse on 1April. 
• €59,461 – In Johannesburg, South Africa, on 21 April, eight suspects were arrested by police while transporting stolen copper cables worth €59,461 in a truck.  
• €58,996 – On 26 April, another truck was stolen in Kariega in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province. It was transporting a shipment of catalytic converters. 

Of the 35 countries across the EMEA region recording cargo crimes in the TIS system last month, eight recorded double-digit incident rates, collectively accounting for 76.8% of all crimes with a value in April:

• Germany – 43 recorded incidents or 17.8% of the April total to date
• Russia – 36 or 15%
• United Kingdom – 36 or 15%
• Italy – 20 or 8.4%
• South Africa – 18 or 7.4%
• Spain – 12 or 5%
• France – 10 or 4.1%
• Ukraine – 10 or 4.1%

April saw a higher-than-usual number of Theft from Facility crimes reported to TAPA EMEA, 41 incidents or 16.9% of the monthly total. However, attacks on vehicles still accounted for most losses, with Theft from Vehicle, Theft from Trailer and Theft of Vehicle seen in a total of 111 incidents.      

Incidents reported to the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System in April also included: 

• 8 April – 40 engines were stolen in Sfax, Tunisia, from a container imported from China.
• 10 April – a border patrol officer was arrested for stealing 60 litres of fuel from Sofia Airport in Bulgaria. 
• 18 April – 11 people were arrested on suspicion of theft in Coria del Rio, Spain. They are suspected of stealing over 5,500kg of fruit. 
• 18 April, in Kaduna, Nigeria, armed thieves stole a truck with 40,000 litres of fuel onboard  
• 20 April – Offenders hijacked a truck while it was en route to Chirundu in Zimbabwe. The vehicle was later recovered in Chegutu along with the cargo, but the truck driver is still missing.  
• 25 April – a suspect was arrested for siphoning fuel from trucks parked at an Origin Facility in Montpellier, France. 
• 27 April – an individual was arrested for stealing seven batteries from trucks parked in an industrial area in Konya, Turkey. 
• 26 April – offenders were also arrested for attempting to steal 300kgs of cast ingots from a train in Likhaya, Russia. 
• 30 April – another fuel theft, this time the siphoning of 900 litres of diesel from a truck parked in an unclassified parking location in Bamberg, Germany. On the same day in Germany, another 400 litres of fuel was stolen from a truck in Nuthetal, southwest of Berlin.