Hoarding criminals drive cargo theft
172 million euros
Losses due to cargo theft are almost a quarter higher than the twelve months before 2020. According to the international security organization Taba, this is a total of 172 million euros in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).
Eric Verhegen
Send email
Taba writes in his annual report. Taba has registered 6,463 burglary cases in 56 countries in the EMEA region, despite governments advising residents to stay home as long as possible last year. The offenders took an average of half a million a day.
The culprits in the UK and Germany were leading with 3,100 and 1,727 thefts. In total, three-quarters of all incidents reported in these countries account for shares. As for Taba, statistics show that not only are the UK and Germany known areas for piracy, but also that government in both countries share data quickly.
Netherlands
The other six countries reported more than 100 cases of car theft last year. They are Russia (307), the Netherlands (199), Spain (178), Italy (121), South Africa (105) and Denmark (101).
The damage last year was almost 25% higher than in 2019. This is the second highest crime rate since Taba registered it. Within that system, the shortage of supermarkets and false stories about empty shelves contributed to the increase. Food items were the most popular among hoarding offenders (536 cases), followed by tobacco products (403 thefts). Economic uncertainty and high demand for medical devices have pushed up crime rates.
Parking
More than 56% of these items were stolen from trucks and delivery vans. Especially in parking lots and public places. Only 232 cases involving theft from logistics centers. In the case of Taba, the lack of safe truck parking contributes to the high number. Half of all thefts took place in unsafe car parks.
