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Europe, was a factor in over half of all crime reports to TAPA in 2020. It is highly regrettable that violence, or the


threat of violence, was reported in 232 incidents, although, again, TAPA believes the true figure to be far higher. In 2020, particularly violent incidents reported to the Association involved fatalities of police officers, drivers, at least one member of the public, and offenders in gunfights with law enforcement officers. A total of 31 of the 56 countries recorded cargo thefts involving violence. South Africa saw the highest number of violent attacks, followed by the UK, Spain and France.


Methods of theft Criminals continued to use a variety of methods to steal goods both in-transit and from facilities. These included the use of: • ‘Blue lights’ to impersonate police and traffic officers to stop trucks,


• GPS ‘jammers’ to block vehicle security tracking signals,


• Fake documentation for drivers, vehicles and companies to facilitate cargo collections,


• Roadblocks using cars, trucks and fires, • Driving vehicles through closed gates to gain access to transport yards and warehouse facilities,


• Spain – 178 • Italy – 121 • South Africa 105 • Denmark – 101.


These statistics demonstrate that crime is a constant 24/7, 365 days-a-year threat which provides substantial rewards for criminal gangs who are often organised along business lines. TAPA noted that numerous factors encouraged criminal activities in 2020, “including widespread and, often, misleading media reports of product shortages and empty supermarket shelves”. It said job losses or the fear of unemployment, “will have opened up new ‘markets’ to buyers seeking bargains, and then there was the global race for scarce supplies of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) from governments, medical professionals and consumers”. In 2020, the top three product thefts reported to the Association were: 1. Food & Drink – 536 2. Tobacco – 403 3. No Load (Theft of truck and/or trailer) – 282.


Other products suffering high loss rates from supply chains in the last calendar year included furniture/household appliances (240), clothing and footwear (213), cosmetics and hygiene


June 2021


(150), tools/building materials (97), metal (87), computers/laptops (68), and pharmaceuticals (67).


“Quick to respond to changing market demand, cargo thieves also targeted shipments of personal protective equipment as well as supply chains moving highly sought-after products such as face masks and hand sanitisers,” TAPA said. In one crime alone in Spain in April, PPE including 2 million facemasks worth €5 million was stolen from an Origin Facility in Santiago de Compostela.


Most popular target Trucks, trailers and delivery vans were the most popular target for cargo thieves, as in previous years. There were 3,644 cases of theft from vehicle, 56.3% of all crimes recorded. This compared with only 212 crimes recorded as theft from facility in 2020. Within the region, it is estimated that there is a shortfall of 2,000 secure truck parking sites and over 400,000 parking places. As in previous years, vehicles were most frequently targeted when they were parked in unsecured parking locations including roadside laybys, truck stops and motorway service areas, or in open spaces on industrial estates. The lack of secure truck parking, especially in


• Online freight exchanges to propose low-cost transportation services in order to be awarded shipment deliveries,


• Gas attacks on drivers taking rest breaks in their cabs, and the use by offenders of pepper sprays to incapacitate drivers,


• ‘Vehicle breakdown’ alerts by drivers on long distance routes in more remote locations to buy time for drivers, vehicles and loads to disappear.


In many ways the transport sector is still coming to grips with crime and how to deal with it. Because supply chains are long and involve many parties, often identifying precisely where a crime occurred can be difficult. There was a view in the UK that the police regarded cargo crime as a “victimless crime” and that insurance would cover losses. That attitude and perception, largely due to the work of organisations such as NaVCIS, is changing. It is known that the proceeds of cargo crime


are used to fund other crimes and the use of violence is of particular concern. Crucially, relative to freight crime the biggest missing piece of the jigsaw is accurate information. Regrettably, until that is known it will be


difficult to fully assess the extent of the problem and the necessary measures and resources that are needed to counter it.


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