Cargo crime taking a toll in Europe

Three major cargo crimes a day targeted high value products in the supply chain in Europe in 2014.

The average loss was €205,624 (approximately CAD$289,000), according to the Transported Asset Protection Association’s (TAPA) 2014 Annual Report for the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region.

For the year as a whole there were 1,102 recorded incidents of cargo crime in the region. For the 33 percent of crimes reporting a value, total losses for the year were €74,847,422 (CDN$105,019,915).

In addition to concerns over the number of crimes and the value of losses, TAPA EMEA says the use of violence by organized criminal gangs continued to grow last year with a 4.5 percent year-on-year increase, driven largely by 102 violent hijackings of trucks, notably in France, Italy and South Africa.

The figures show the top 10 cargo crimes in 2014 involved a combined loss of €32,471,000 (CDN$45,560,710). Overall, there were 15 thefts from facilities and vehicles during the year with losses exceeding €1 million as criminal gangs targeted everything from lottery scratch cards, cosmetics, consumer electronics, and clothing and footwear to tobacco products, pharmaceuticals, food and beverage, car parts and tires, and cash.

Thorsten Neumann, Chairman of TAPA EMEA, said: “It is well-known that the majority of cargo crime still goes unreported and that is a situation industry has to change. In 2007, a European Parliament study on organized theft of commercial vehicles and their loads put the annual cost to business as €8.2 billion and attacks on the supply chain by organized criminal gangs have certainly increased since then. We also know that the true cost of loss, taking into account all of the factors that can result from a cargo crime, can be five times the cost of the actual stolen product.”

TAPA received information on 157 ‘major’ incidents in 2014 (thefts involving a loss over €100,000).

Germany and the UK stood out as reporting the largest year-on-year increases. Germany recorded the highest number of freight crimes in 2014, with a 42.5 percent growth over 2013, to 285 cargo thefts. With 175 cargo crimes, the UK saw the highest percentage growth among the top countries suffering incidents, climbing 98.8 percent on the previous year, to 175 crimes. The Netherlands, the main location for reported cargo crimes in 2013, saw a 9.7 percent drop over 2013 but still recorded 258 incidents overall.

Thefts from vehicles continued to account for the biggest proportion of freight thefts with over 500 crimes, representing more than 45 percent of all incidents recorded in 2014. Over the course of the year, there were also 193 thefts from facilities and 185 vehicle thefts. Food & beverage products were the most targeted cargo across the region as a whole, closely followed by consumer electronics.

“We know that organized gangs of cargo criminals are operating across our region, particularly within Europe, and we can clearly see that they are becoming more daring and sophisticated in the way they target goods moving in the supply chain,” Neumann said.

“These are not always products with a high individual unit cost. They might just as easily be a high volume of lower cost goods that can easily be traded on the black market. Nonetheless, we are encouraged by the response from law enforcement agencies across the region, and by government ministries and the European Commission, which all recognize that this is a growing trend causing a significant economic threat and it must be addressed.”

TAPA’s analysis shows that 92.8 percent of the 1,102 cargo crimes in 2014 in the EMEA region took place in just 10 countries; Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Russia, Spain, Austria, Sweden and South Africa. The data is collected by TAPA from its members, law enforcement agencies and credible media sources.
TAPA is helping its members achieve supply chain resilience by using its Security Standards, training, intelligence and networking opportunities to enhance their own in-house security programs. As a result, analysis shows that TAPA members are three times less likely to be victims of cargo crime.

Thorsten added: “We are working to ensure the wider implementation of TAPA Security Standards to protect high value, theft-attractive cargo in facilities and during the road transport process, and pushing for investment in more secure truck parks on trunk routes across Europe. TAPA EMEA is also committed to ensuring legislators understand the real cost and impact of supply chain crime.”