€19.2m of Cargo Stolen from Supply Chains in EMEA in 30 days
Nearly €20 million of products being stolen in just 30 days in September once again highlighted the rich rewards attracting crime groups to focus on vulnerable supply chains.
While it was back to work for large swathes of industry after the summer break, September continued to suffer the high value loss rates seen in the previous two months. Data in the previous issues of Vigilant sharing cargo theft intelligence for July and August reported 2,916 incidents in the Europe, Middle East & Africa region and a total loss for only the 5% of these crimes sharing a value of nearly €24 million.
While the rate of incidents recorded in the TAPA EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) database in September was significantly lower than in the previous peak summer months, the known loss value as the third highest of 2024 to date.
For the 30 days of September, TIS has so far received information on 405 new cargo crimes in EMEA spread across 30 countries. Only 26.2% or 106 of these incidents reported their financial loss, producing values of:
- €19,207,442 of products stolen from supply chains
- €535,811 – average loss for crimes with a value of €100,000 or more
- €640,248 – cargo losses every 24 hours in September 2024
- €181,202 – average loss for all 106 crimes sharing a value
Statistically, the number of major cargo thefts in September was the highest total for these highest-value crimes reported in Vigilant so far in 2024, 34 in total. Vigilant is unable to share information on the biggest loss reported to TIS other than to share its value of €4 million. Other major incidents included:
€1,500,000
The theft of 1,000 mobile phones after a van was hijacked while en route in Italy on 19 September. No further information is so far available.
€1,000,000
On 23 September in Longjumeau, south of Paris, France, a group of offenders forced open a shutter window at an Origin Facility to stole 40 large reels of copper as well as two trucks used to transport the reels away from the site. A media report shared with TIS highlighted how copper is now such a ‘highly prized’ target for crime groups with a value of some €8,500 per tonne. The incident was captured on CCTV.
€1,000,000
A high value consignment of air conditioning units and water heaters was reportedly stolen by employees working in an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in Italy on 4 September. The exact location was not recorded.
€1,000,000
On 14 September, thieves escaped with €1 million of jewellery after a robbery of an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in France.
€1,000,000
A large shipment of tobacco products stolen from a truck parked in an Unclassified Parking Location in Spain was recovered by law enforcement officers on 10 September.
€1,000,000
A violent robbery of a cash-in-transit vehicle was reported at a Destination Facility in Greece on 26 September. No further intelligence was shared.
€900,000
Luxury fashion products were stolen in a burglary of an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in France on 30 September.
€800,000
Another Authorised 3rd Party Facility was targeted in Germany on 8 September when offenders stole two refrigerated trailers and their loads.
€400,000
A trucked loaded with stainless steel refrigeration cooling tubes was taken from an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in Spain on 28 September.
€358,470
Offenders torched a van and truck at an Origin Facility in the UK on 15 September and stealing a large quantity of unspecified goods.
€350,000
In Thessaloniki, Greece, on 10 September, two suspects were arrested in connected with a cash-in-transit robbery.
€300,000
On 5 September, €300,000 of cash and jewellery were stolen during a robbery at an undisclosed location in Italy.
€220,000
Two tractor units were stolen from an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in Germany on 28 September.
€200,000
In Montfermeil, an eastern suburb of Paris, France, on 18 September, two criminals were arrested following the attempted theft of €200,000 of perfume from an Origin Facility.
€200,000
Three suspects were also arrested after a large shipment of electronic brake systems was stolen from a truck in an Unclassified Parking Location in France on 5 September.
€150,000
On 26 September, police offices in Molfetta in Italy’s Apulia region apprehended several offenders in connection with thefts of vehicles from their workplace.
€150,000
An attempted theft of tools/building materials from a truck in an Unclassified Parking Location in Italy on 24 September.
€100,000
In Tarvisio, Italy, on 26 September, as a truck driver was sleeping in his tractor unit in an unclassified parking location, thieves broke open the locks and security seals of their trailer and stole 350 packages of food and drink products.
€100,000
318 bottles of Grands Crus Wine were stolen during a theft at an Origin Facility in France on 16 September.
€100,000
Thieves stole 350 coffee machines from a truck parked in an unsecured parking area on 25 September while the driver was asleep.
Based on crime reports received so far for the month of September, a further 7 losses were reported with values of between €50,000- €100,000, and they included:
- €82,000 – Quad bikes stolen from a retail store in France on 23 September.
- €80,000- 200 pairs of luxury shoes were stolen from an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in Spain on 23 September.
- €70,000 – Bicycles stolen from a retail store in Italy on 12 September.
- €58,184 – A truck stolen from an unclassified parking location in Moscow, Russia, on 20 September.
- €50,000 – 8 high-end bicycles stolen from an Authorised 3rd Party Facility at an undisclosed location in France on 11 September.
There was no month-over-month change in the top five countries for recorded crimes in September, which accounted for 72.3% of all incidents recorded by TIS. They were:
- Germany – 131 incidents or 32.4% of the monthly total
- United Kingdom – 50 or 12.4%
- Italy – 49 or 12.1%
- France – 46 or 11.4%
- Spain – 18 or 4.4%
Three other countries reported double-digit cargo crime rates: Netherlands (14), Greece (14) and South Africa (10).
Other types of incident reports in September included:
- A store employee in Moscow, Russia, was arrested after stealing over €30,000 of miscellaneous goods on 25 September.
- On 12 September in Spain, police arrested four members of a fuel theft gang suspected to have stolen over 8,000 litres of diesel from commercial vehicles.
- 24 refrigerators were stolen from a truck at an unclassified parking location in Poland on 4 September while the driver took a rest break.
- 30 laptops were stolen from an office premises in Athens, Greece, on 17 September.
- 6 robbers were killed during a shootout with police officers on 7 September after an attempt to steal cash-in-transit from a van in South Africa.
- 2,300 bottles of wine were stolen from a vineyard facility in an unspecified region of France on 7 September.
- 3 men were arrested by police is Reims and Suippes, France, on 15 September in connection with €100,000 of fuel thefts.
- 35 suspects were detained in Niger Delta, Nigeria, for the theft of a truck and its cargo on 19 September.
- 6 offenders were killed in a shoot-out with police in South Africa as they attempted to hijack a cash-in-transit vehicle.
- 120 electric scooters were taken from an Authorised 3rd Party Facility in Italy.
- A truck driver was abducted by bogus police officers in South Africa, who stole his vehicle. The status of the driver is unknown.
- 180 tyres were stolen from a freight train container at a Railway Operations Facility in Bulgaria.
- 22 e-bicycles were taken from a truck parked at a motorway service area in Sweden.
Fuel thefts remained a dominant product of interest for cargo criminals as another 90 incidents were recorded in this reporting period, accounting for 22.2% of September’s incident total. Germany remains the country most impacted by fuel thefts with 60 or 66.6% of all fuel thefts recorded across the country. Fuel losses were also reported in Bulgaria, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
TAPA EMEA members can visit the TIS database for more cargo theft intelligence updates.
