CARGO CRIME DATA: MARCH & APRIL 2021


• €56,216 - In Moscow on 5 March, a driver used falsified documentation to collect a shipment of miscellaneous goods. The driver and cargo subsequently disappeared;


• €50,000 - On 15 April, 45 televisions were stolen after thieves cut the tarpaulin of a truck at a parking lot in Brandenburg, Germany.


Of the 26 countries recording new cargo thefts in TAPA’s IIS database in March and April, the top five were:


• United Kingdom 76 incidents or 27.7% of the two-month total


• Germany 71 or 26.0% • South Africa 31 or 11.3% • Russia 14 or 5.1% • Hungary 13 or 4.7%


In over 50% of loss reports in March and April, the types of products stolen were either unspecified or recorded as miscellaneous. The 18 IIS product categories suffering incidents included five with double-digit losses:


• Tobacco – 22 or 8.0% of the March/April total


• Food & Drink – 19 or 6.9% • Clothing & Footwear – 14 or 5.1% • Tools/Building Materials – 12 or 4.4%


• Furniture/Household Appliances – 10 or 3.6%


Theft from Vehicle was the most recorded type of incident, with 84 incidents or 30.7% of the total. It was one of 10 incident categories with losses, which also included:


• Theft – 57 or 20.9% • Robbery –23 or 8.4% • Theft from Facility – 21 or 7.7% • Fraud – 17 or 6.2% • Theft of Vehicle – 15 or 5.5% • Hijacking – 15 or 5.5% • Theft of Trailer – 14 or 5.1% • Theft from Trailer – 14 or 5.1% • Clandestine – 11 or 4.0%


The top five types of locations for March/ April losses – excluding the 127 crimes where the locations were unknown – were:


• Unclassified Parking Location – 75 or 27.4% • En Route – 22 or 8.0% • Destination Facility – 22 or 8.0% • Services 3rd Party Facility – 18 or 6.6% • Maritime Transportation Facility – 5 or 1.7%


Other brief intelligence updates from data recorded in the IIS database in March/April included:


• On 2 March, four tonnes of linoleum was stolen by a driver using fake documentation from a Services 3rd Party Facility in Moscow, Russia;


• A truck carrying electronics was forced to stop and robbed in Polokwane, South Africa, on 2 March. Police later recovered some of the cargo as well as pistols and ammunition;


• 232 tyres were stolen from a vehicle in Foggia, Italy, on 3 March;


• Offenders torched a truck carrying a shipment of cigarettes after targeting the vehicle in Marseille, France, on 3 March;


• On 4 March, thieves entered a transport yard in Castleford in the UK and stole a trailer loaded with sports goods;


• Guardia Civil in Spain arrested four thieves who stole electrical appliances from a truck parked at a rest area in Campotejar while the driver was asleep inside his cab;


• Thieves used a forklift truck and HGV to steal 40 tonnes of food and drink from a Road Transportation Facility in Featherstone in the UK on 5 March;


• 20 tonnes of copper were taken over the weekend of 6 March from a warehouse in Ludenscheid, Germany;


• On 9 March, deception was used to steal a consignment of sports equipment from a Services 3rd Party Facility in Shehelkovo, Russia;


• A large shipment of paracetamol was taken from a truck in Dodworth, UK, on 9 March;


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Intrusion – in most cases cutting holes in truck tarpaulins and breaking open the rear door locks of vehicles to identify and steal goods - accounted for over half of the two-month total. As already highlighted, several crimes in this reporting period included extreme violence and fatalities. Violence & Threat with Violence was the M.O. reported for 29 or 10.6% of incidents, while Deception Other was the other type of M.O. to reach double figures with 17 incidents, most of which took place in Russia.


The improving weather conditions appears to be increasing the number of cases involving migrants being discovered onboard trucks as they attempt to cross borders. Reports to TAPA’s IIS in March/April included:


• 114 Afghan and Pakistani migrants discovered after Turkish police stopped a truck in the eastern city of Van, close to the border with Iraq;


17


• Turkish authorities also found 55 people inside two shipping containers at the port of Izmir. The containers were destined for Italy.


Migrants were also discovered onboard vehicles in France, Germany, Macedonia, and the United Kingdom. Tragically, four migrants died in Hungary when the truck they were hiding in overturned. A number of other people were injured in the accident which involved a vehicle transporting heavy paper rolls. In another incident, Afghan migrants admitted they had paid €1,500 each to stowaway on a truck bound for Italy.


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