Supply chain theft incidents reported to the Technology Asset Protection Association (TAPA) in July reached the highest level so far this year. During this holiday month, TAPA’s EMEA Intelligence System (TIS) database collected data on 1,736 new cargo crime incidents in just 31 days, a 17.7 per cent increase compared to February, the previous record month of the year.
The final incident rate for July will likely be even higher as new crimes continue to be added to the TAPA EMEA database, the organisation points out.
Fragmented loss picture
Cargo thieves were active in 31 countries across the EMEA region in July. Although only 5.1 per cent of incident reports included a financial loss value, the thefts amounted to a total loss of approximately €16.2 million in a single month—an average of more than half a million euros per day. Since this represents only a fraction of the thefts, the real damage could be up to 20 times higher.
The average loss for each of the 86 cargo thefts reported was around €186,000. According to TAPA, this shows there was no “relaxation” in supply chains during the holidays.
“Organised criminal groups are particularly active during the summer holidays, public holidays, and around Christmas and New Year,” the organisation points out.
Most serious incidents
To date, TAPA has received reports of 27 serious cargo crimes in July, representing over €15 million in losses for the month, or an average of €558,517 per incident.
Least safe countries
The latest TAPA report shows no change in the top least safe countries for July. In the seventh month of this year, as in previous months, nearly 90 per cent of all recorded incidents occurred in the following countries:
- the UK, with 620 incidents, or 35.7 per cent of all thefts in July;
- Germany, with 359 cargo thefts, or 20.6 per cent of all incidents;
- Italy, with 243 thefts, or 14 per cent;
- France, with 222 thefts, or 12.7 per cent;
- Spain, with 114 thefts, or 6.5 per cent.
Of these five countries, all except Spain recorded their highest number of incidents so far this year in July.
“The total number of incidents in the UK in July was up 58 per cent from this year’s previous record high in February. Reported cargo theft in Germany increased by 15 per cent from the previous highest level in May. Italy’s incident rate was 13 per cent higher than in March, and France reported 16 per cent more cargo crime than in the previous record month of March,” TAPA highlights.
Thefts in 7 countries increased significantly
In seven other EMEA countries, there was a notable double-digit increase in incidents compared to June, although the number of thefts remained significantly lower than in the ‘top’ countries on TAPA’s list. The countries that saw a marked increase in thefts were:
- South Africa – 36 incidents;
- Austria – 26;
- Poland – 22;
- Slovakia – 14;
- Czech Republic – 13;
- Croatia – 10;
- Egypt – 10.
Most targeted goods
While it’s difficult to specify the products targeted in most incidents, six of the 20 product categories in the TIS system were hit in 10 or more thefts:
- fuel – 97 thefts in July;
- metal – 34 cargo thefts;
- cash – 21 incidents;
- tools/construction materials – 14 incidents;
- truck and/or trailer theft – 13;
- clothing and footwear – 10.
Despite falling fuel prices in many countries, diesel remains a target for thieves in the EMEA region. Such thefts are most often committed by individual criminals or small groups, as the value and quantities are too low to attract organised crime groups.
“Fuel theft, which increased by 42.6 per cent in July compared to June, highlights the habitual nature of cargo crime. Fuel theft surged more than a year ago when fuel prices reached unprecedented levels across Europe. Now, even though black market demand may be lower, those committing these crimes seem to be more active than ever, likely due to how easy it is to access fuel from vehicles belonging to companies that haven’t taken precautions to protect their diesel tanks,” comments the organisation in its July report.
Of the 97 fuel thefts reported in the EMEA region in July, 60 occurred in Germany. Other incidents were registered in Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, and the UK.