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IIS NEWS


LOOTING IN SOUTH AFRICA INCLUDES THE THEFT OF 7,000 TYRES WORTH €5.2 MILLION FROM AN ORIGIN FACILITY IN DURBAN


• On 28 July, a military truck was stolen in Pretoria;


• On 30 July, a Food & Drink warehouse was looted in Durban.


Cargo crime data captured by TAPA EMEA’s Incident Information Service (IIS) for July included further evidence of the social unrest and looting which took place in South Africa after the country’s former president Jacob Zuma was taken into police custody.


All three major crimes so far recorded for the month took place in South Africa, most notably the theft of 7,000 tyres valued at €5,292,407 from an Origin Facility in Durban, KwaZulu- Natal, on 11 July during widespread looting. The tyres have since been discovered being sold online. The other incidents with reported losses of €100,000 or more were:


€816,199 In Cape Town, on 7 July, a truck transporting a cargo of catalytic converters was forced to stop by offenders driving a pick-up truck. The passenger approached the truck, pointing a firearm at the driver and his passenger. After taking over the truck, the thieves drove to an unknown location to unload the shipment. The truck was later found abandoned and the subsequent intelligence operation resulted in the recovery of the catalytic converters, although police are still hunting for the suspects.


€405,000


A gang of 15 armed criminals driving in four cars ambushed a cash-in- transit van as its guards were loading cash into an ATM in Port Elizabeth on 2 July. The gang forced the guards to surrender their weapons before stealing the large quantity of banknotes. The driver of the C-I-T vehicle was arrested two days later on suspicion of involvement in the incident.


Other crimes in South Africa included:


• On 15 July, thieves stole TVs, monitors and laptops from a Destination Facility in Durban;


• On the same date, offenders broke into an Origin Facility in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal, and took office equipment, batteries and tyres;


To date, TAPA’s IIS has also received reports of three incidents in July with a loss value of between €50,000-€100,000:


• €60,000 – On 29 July, an unknown perpetrator stole a truck loaded with Tools/ Building Equipment in Erlensee, Germany. The truck has stopped in a parking lane.


• €50,000 – Offenders took engine filters from 24 trucks parked at a logistics facility in Imola, Italy, on 3 July.


• €50,000 – On 15 July, two suspects were arrested for the thefts of 103 catalytic converters from small delivery trucks in and around Santa Margherita Ligure in the Liguria region of Italy.


With reporting levels in July and August traditionally impacted by the holiday season, TAPA’s IIS has so far recorded only 82 cargo theft incidents in July, with a total loss value of €6,681,606. With only 7 or 8.4% of these crimes reporting financial data, the average loss for these thefts stood at €954,515.


Losses were recorded in 11 countries in the Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) region, including four with double digit incident rates:


• Spain – 18 incidents (21.9% of the monthly total)


• France – 16 (19.5%) • South Africa -15 (18.3%) • United Kingdom – 14 (17.1%)


Theft from Vehicle was the most recorded type of incident with 42 crimes during the month. 15 crimes stated the M.O. of Violent or Threat with Violence. Overall, TAPA recorded losses in eight IIS known product categories, led by eight thefts of Food & Drink.


In other incidents:


• On 16 July, thieves stole Tools/Building Materials from 11 trucks in Altenburg in Germany.


• On 22 July, 5 people were arrested by Spanish police in Toledo and Madrid on suspicion of being involved in 23 cases of robbery with force. According to the IIS report, criminals cut the tarpaulins of trailers and stole various products within just a five-minute period.


• On 30 July, a group of criminals broke into an electronics depot in Lombardy, Italy, and used four stolen vans to block the company’s access roads, while a fifth vehicle was used to break through the gate to the premises. They fled after setting off an alarm, taking part of a shipment of televisions.


INCIDENTS BY REGION – TOP 5 COUNTRIES - JULY 2021


Spain – total: 18 • 9 – Madrid • 3 – Catalonia • 2 – Andalusia • 1 – Valencian Community


France – total: 16 • 14 – Ile-de-France • 1 – Grand Est


South Africa – 15 • 6 - KwaZulu-Natal • 4 – Gauteng • 2 – Western Cape


• 1 – Canary Islands • 1 – Mallorca • 1 – Castille and León


• 1 – Normandy


• 2- Eastern Cape • 1 – Limpopo


United Kingdom – total: 14 • 4 – North West • 3 – Wales • 2 – South West • 2 – West Midlands


GERMANY – total: 8 • 3 – Thuringia • 1 – Saxony • 1 – Lower Saxony • 1 – Hesse


PRODUCT CATEGORY Miscellaneous Food and Drink


Tools/Building Materials


No Load (Theft of truck and/or trailer) Cash


Car Parts Bicycles Tyres


Furniture/Household Appliances Unspecified


• 2 – London • 1 – Yorkshire & The Humber


• 1 – Berlin • 1 – Rhineland Palatinate


No 59 8 4 3 2 2 1 1 1 1


%


72.1% 9.9% 4.8% 3.6% 2.4% 2.4% 1.2% 1.2% 1.2% 1.2%


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