Global Intelligence Note · end, delaying shipments of everything from French wine to pet food....
Transcript of Global Intelligence Note · end, delaying shipments of everything from French wine to pet food....
sensitech.com
Formerly known asFreightWatch International
SUPPLY CHAININTELLIGENCE CENTER
Global Intelligence Note25 May 2018
The SensiGuard ™ Supply Chain Intelligence Center (SCIC)
presents a summary of major incidents and news articles
relating to cargo theft and intelligence for the week ending
25 May 2018.
EMEA
Europe .....................................................................................1
Egypt ........................................................................................1
United Kingdom .......................................................................2
Germany ..................................................................................2
Italy ..........................................................................................3
Nigeria ......................................................................................3
South Africa..............................................................................4
Kenya .......................................................................................4
Africa ........................................................................................5
APAC
China/The Netherlands .............................................................5
China ........................................................................................5
India .........................................................................................5
North & South America
Brazil ........................................................................................6
Mexico .....................................................................................6
U.S. & Canada .........................................................................7
EMEA
Europe25 May 2018: The proposal of the European
Commission to revise the 1999/62/EC Directive
on the charging of road vehicles is one step
closer with the approval by the European Council
of the vast majority of proposed compromise
amendments. With the revision of the directive, road freight
is to be charged on a more equal basis with rail freight. Road
charges are currently only applied to trucks on about 20-25%
of the European network. This is a point of frustration for the
rail freight industry, as railway operators pay distance-based
charges on all railroads.
Read more: RailFreight.com
Egypt22 May 2018: Egypt has announced plans to
build a railway line offering an alternative to the
Suez Canal. The line will connect the Port of
Alexandria and Damietta on the Mediterranean
coast to the Port of Nuweiba on the Red Sea. It will be the first
land bridge between the Mediterranean and Red Sea, as well
as a new railway connection between North Africa and the Arab
Peninsula.
Read more: RailFreight.com
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 2
United Kingdom23 May 2018: Thieves have stolen £200,000 of
CCTV and security equipment from the trailer of a
truck which was parked in a layby on the A14 near
Stowmarket. The truck driver was woken up at
around 3.30am by a noise outside the truck, and
when he went outside he was confronted by a male suspect.
The driver then got back into the cab and drove off; once he
had reached a safe distance away, he stopped to call police. It
was then discovered that the CCTV and security equipment had
been stolen from the trailer.
20 May 2018: The free movement of goods
between the U.K. and European Union may
end, delaying shipments of everything from
French wine to pet food. After the Pride of York
ferry sailed into the Belgian port of Zeebrugge
from Hull in the U.K. earlier this month, dozens of cargo
containers were offloaded and whisked away on trucks. The
hundreds of passengers weren’t as lucky: they had to line up for
border checks. Brexit risks putting U.K. freight in the slow lane
as well. For now The U.K. is part of the European Union’s single
market, which ensures the free flow of goods across national
borders while being outside the bloc’s common travel zone. With
Brexit due in 10 months, Zeebrugge embodies the repeated
warnings by the U.K.’s EU partners that its departure from the
bloc is a lose-lose move by adding bureaucracy for businesses
and costs for consumers.
Read more: Bloomberg
18 May 2018: Plans to ease traffic for
residents and businesses in Kent in the
event of cross-Channel disruption have
been unveiled by the Roads Minister, Jesse
Norman. The new plans for ‘Operation Stack’ will allow traffic to
travel in both directions between junctions 8 and 9 while trucks
are being queued for the Port of Dover and Eurotunnel. That
means drivers can access these junctions, rather than being
diverted onto smaller local roads. This will be made possible
using a contraflow on the northbound carriageway, which will
be available for use by early 2019, if there is ever disruption
to cross-Channel traffic and trucks have to be queued. The
Department for Transport is also setting out plans to improve
overnight lorry parking, so that fewer trucks will be left on local
roads or parked in laybys overnight.
Read more: Gov.uk
Germany24 May 2018: Nine trucks parked at Parkplatz
Schlochau Ost on the A7 in Northeim (Lower
Saxony) had their trailer curtains cut. As the
drivers slept, criminals slashed the curtains to
check the cargo onboard the trailers. Only cargo from one truck
(several boxes of glycerin valued at approximately €8,000) has
been reported as stolen. The damage to the nine trucks is also
estimated to be around €4,500.
Read more: PressePortal (Germany)
21 May 2018: The port of Hamburg’s inability to
maximise ship loads is causing it to fall further
behind neighbouring container terminals in
Northern Europe. The impact of the river Elbe’s
draught restrictions has become more pronounced with the
advent of larger vessels, which cannot maximise capacity—as
the port’s latest quarterly results show. First-quarter figures from
the German gateway show virtually flat growth (up 0.7%, 1.9m
teu), while Antwerp was up 10.7%, 2.7m teu, and Rotterdam
was up 6.1%, 3.5m teu.
Read more: The Loadstar (U.K.)
17 May 2018: Managers of insolvent P&R Group
are being investigated after it was discovered
the investment firm sold nearly one million
more shipping containers than it owned. Once
the world’s biggest lessor of shipping containers, P&R sells
containers to investors and its sister company in Switzerland
rents them out to shipping companies. P&R later buys back the
containers from investors. P&R, which is based near Munich,
has sold some 1.6 million containers to around 54,000 investors
for a total of $3.5 billion (USD $4.12 billion). But a tally made
after its German units filed for insolvency earlier this year has
shown that P&R only has a fleet of around 600,000 containers.
Read more: gCaptain.com
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 3
Italy 24 May 2018: A 60-year-old man was
arrested in Ottaviano (Campania) by the
Carabinieri, as he was held responsible for a
robbery carried out on 12 December 2017
against a road haulier. The military carried out the arrest warrant
issued by the judge of the Court of Naples North. The victim
was aboard his truck on which he carried beer yeast for a value
of €60,000. At the exit of Casoria on the A1 motorway he was
stopped by some armed bandits and robbed of the cargo. The
semi-trailer was then found in the municipality of Tufino. The
investigations were initiated thanks to the declarations of the
truck driver, and then continued with interceptions and tracking.
The other bandits are still to be identified.
Read more: Il Fatto Vesuviano (Italy)
22 May 2018: A huge theft of metallic material was
carried out against a company in Brendola. It was
discovered when owners and employees arrived at
the plant to start a new week of work and found
the gates open. Inside the building, there was no longer a box
full of brass chips of valued greater than €50,000.
Read more: Il Giornale di Vicenza (Italy)
19 May 2018: Criminals broke into a
warehouse facility in Grosseto (Tuscany) and
stole Pharmaceuticals (mainly cancer drugs)
worth an estimated €3,000,000. It is believed
that this theft was well-planned and carried out by a professional
gang. The criminals gained entry through the only spot that was
not covered by the alarm, so it is believed that they would have
spent some time before observing and working this out. As a lot
of Pharmaceuticals require storage and transport within certain
temperature parameters, it is likely that the gang had their own
refrigerated truck to transport them.
Read more: Il Tirreno (Italy)
17 May 2018: The driver of a delivery truck
which contained a full shipment of fertility
medications destined for the United States
was kidnapped near the town of Bari
(Apulia). The driver of the truck was released some hours later
by the criminals. The truck was eventually found abandoned,
using GPS, by the Italian Police. The shipment remains missing.
The brand names of the product stolen are Gonal-f® RFF Redi-
ject® and Gonal-f® RFF Multi-Dose 1050 and 450 and they
are manufactured by EMD Serono, Inc. for U.S. distribution.
The products stolen are all injectable products (one is in the
form of a “pen”) and are temperature controlled medications.
There were a total of 16,457 individual pieces in the shipment.
Any information you may have to assist in this incident please
contact Kimberly Fleming, Director, Mature Brand LCM and
Secure Operations, EMD Serono, Inc. Phone: +1-781-681 2118
E-mail: [email protected].
Source: PCSC
Nigeria 20 May 2018: Dr. Dakuku Adol Peterside,
Director General of the Nigerian Maritime
Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA),
has stated that security in the Nigerian Maritime
domain is a work in progress that requires the
commitment of all stakeholders to ensure optimum safety of
all investments in the sector. Speaking to journalists in Lagos,
Dr. Peterside stated that the Agency is taking the lead on the
issue of maritime safety in the entire West and Central African
sub-region noting that safety and security in the Gulf of Guinea
has a direct impact on the Nigerian economy. The NIMASA DG
noted that there are a lot of factors that contributes to the cost
of products coming into the country through the seas, which
makes it very important to tackle insecurity in the waterways.
According to the DG “we must ensure the security of the Gulf of
Guinea because Nigeria is not isolated from whatever happens
in the region which may lead to negative economic impact, or
increase in the cost of insurance or war premium insurance and
ultimately lead to high cost of goods and services which will be
borne by the consumer of the goods and services”.
Read more: Sundiata Post (Nigeria)
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 4
South Africa23 May 2018: An alleged member of a truck
hijacking syndicate is behind bars after Durban
Metro Police swooped in on a warehouse in Sea
Cow Lake. A Durban Metro police spokesperson
said a truck was hijacked on the M7 near
Pinetown. Police had worked with a vehicle tracking company
throughout the night, and located the truck the next morning in
oThongathi. Stolen from the truck was a pallet of beer that was
worth between R1.5 million to R2 million (€103,375-137,834).
The owner of the warehouse admitted to purchasing the stolen
product from the truck driver. Metro Police officers arrested the
man for receiving and purchasing known stolen goods. In a
twist to the story, police had found out that the truck driver was
allegedly part of the syndicate. He had opened a false case of
hijacking.
Read more: Independent Online (South Africa)
23 May 2018: A man sustained minor injuries in
what was believed to be an attempted Cash-in-
Transit heist on the N3 before the Marlboro off-ramp
in Johannesburg. When paramedics arrived on
scene, the man was receiving treatment from other emergency
services. He sustained minor wounds to his arm. Three more
men, all believed to be between the ages of 20 and 50, did not
sustain injuries. Two of the men were traveling in the Cash-in-
Transit van and two more men were in a security vehicle when
shots were fired at them. It is believed that the suspects involved
in this incident fled the scene.
Read more: Search SA (South Africa)
22 May 2018: Not even a police station opposite
the Jabulani Mall in Soweto could deter the latest
brazen Cash-in-Transit heist, which took place in
broad daylight and resulted in a woman being shot.
Ironically, this robbery took place on a day when five suspects
arrested in connection with last week’s daring Cash-in-Transit
heist appeared in the Boksburg Magistrate’s Court. In the latest
incident, Gauteng police spokesperson said a group of men
ambushed a cash van belonging to a security company at the
mall in the morning and made off with an undisclosed amount of
money.
Read more: Independent Online (South Africa)
22 May 2018: Two houses were raided and four
people, including a couple, were arrested for
being in possession of “huge amounts” of money
suspected to be linked to Cash-in-Transit robberies.
The Ekurhuleni Metro Police Department (EMPD) received a tip-
off that there was a couple keeping “a considerable amount of
cash” in a house in Tsakane. Upon the EMPD’s arrival at the
house, the couple alleged that they were keeping the money
for an SBV employee. SBV is a Cash-in-Transit company. This
discovery comes after several Cash-in-Transit robberies in and
around Gauteng.
Read more: Sowetan Live (South Africa)
Kenya24 May 2018: Thirty Kenyan police officers will
soon travel to China to participate in a four-
week training on railway security funded by the
Chinese government. Economic and Commercial
Counselor Guo Ce of the Chinese Embassy in Kenya hosted
a farewell luncheon for the police officers and stressed that
enhanced security is key to smooth operation of Kenya’s
Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) launched on 31 May 2017.
“We are delighted to see that the Kenyan government and the
Chinese operator have recently incorporated stringent security
measures to curb insecurity and crime. At present, the SGR
passenger and cargo operations are in good conditions,” said
Guo.
Read more: XinhuaNet (China)
21 May 2018: Transport between Changamwe
and Mombasa Island was paralysed after a cargo
train hauling some 250,000 litres of super petrol
derailed as it negotiated a sharp bend near the
Kibarani flyover. The derailment caused a major spillage of the
highly inflammable fuel forcing the government to close the
Makupa Causeway which is the main link between Changamwe
mainland and the Island at Makande. The train was hauling
sixteen wagons of fuel. The oil spillage has been contained and
the process of decanting the fuel has begun. The cause of the
derailment has not been established.
Read more: Mediamax (Kenya)
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 5
Africa23 May 2018: Oceans Beyond Piracy released its
review for 2017, and the numbers show that pirate
attacks remain a serious threat off the Horn of
Africa, the coast of Latin America, and in the Gulf of
Guinea. Off the coast of East Africa, the number of
pirate attacks in 2017 was double the number the year before.
“Pirate activity in 2017 clearly demonstrates that pirate groups
retain their ability to organize and implement attacks against
ships transiting the region,” said Maisie Pigeon, the report’s
lead author. In addition, the high rate of piracy and maritime
kidnapping in the Gulf of Guinea continues unabated. “Kidnap-
for-ransom continues to plague the region, which is a trend that
has unfortunately continued from 2016,” said Pigeon.
Read more: The Maritime Executive
APAC
China/The Netherlands24 May 2018: Transit times on the railway
service between Chengdu in China and Tilburg
in the Netherlands may be reduced to fourteen
days, as alternative border crossings between
Kazakhstan and China are considered by Chinese rail operator
CDIRS. The service currently takes around fifteen days. “The
Chinese-Kazakh border crossing of Alas Hankou and the
Belarus-Polish border crossing of Malaszewicze are currently
congested. The containers on the train have to be unloaded and
change wagons due to gauge and customs zone differences.
As most trains pass through these border points, containers
are stalled for three to four days. We have to find alternative
crossings in to ease congestion”, explained Jialu Zhang,
representative of CIPI (Chengdu International Port Investment
and Development Group), the mother company of CDIRS
(Chengdu International Railway Service).
Read more: RailFreight.com
China17 May 2018: Chinese robotics company
TuSimple plan to use port automation as a
proving ground for over-the-road autonomous
trucks. By the end of this year, it will have 20
of its self-driving vehicles carrying containers
around the port of Caofeidian, China. Caofeidian, a district of the
city of Tangshan, is best known as a bulker port and the home
of an abandoned eco-city project. It is also home to a 300,000
TEU container terminal large enough that TuSimple can test
its technology in a realistic environment. Many other terminals
already use robotic trucks to carry containers within the bounds
of the facility site. However, Caofeidian may be the first port to
test fully self-driving, over-the-road truck systems.
Read more: The Maritime Executive
16 May 2018: Six people went missing after a
cargo ship sank at sea off East China’s Fujian
Province. Eleven crew members aboard the
cargo ship fell into the water 1.8 nautical miles
off the Coast of Tangyu Island of Fuzhou City. Five people have
been rescued, but six others remain missing.
Read more: XinhuaNet (China)
India25 May 2018: To protest against the sky-high
fuel prices of recent days, Trinamool Congress
and Trinamool Youth Congress are together
organising a state-wide protest. It will consist
of marches in every district across the state,
including in Kolkata. In Kolkata, there will be a march from
Subodh Mullick Square to Park Street, and it will be organised
by Trinamool Youth Congress. Prices of petrol and diesel have
touched all-time highs, having shot up in the past nine days.
Read more: New India Express
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 6
North & South America
Brazil23 May 2018: Police arrested seven
members of a gang that robbed cargo
loads in Minas Gerais. The criminals stole
a load of coffee on 9 May in the city of San
Francisco de Paula. Strongly armed, they caught the vigilantes
of a cooperative and took about USD $62,500 in coffee (475
sacks). The product was transported on a truck stolen by
bandits and sold weeks later to a receiver of stolen goods.
Three other members of the gang are still wanted.
Read more: Hoje em Dia (Brazil)
23 May 2018: Police recovered a cargo of 800
gas cylinders valued at USD $156,250. The cargo
was stolen in the region of Campestre, Goiás
state. The driver was taken and kept in captivity by
the bandits, but was later released. According to
the sheriff of the region, the integration among the police forces
in the fight against cargo theft and pilferage in the state of Goiás
has led to the decrease of this type of crime and the quick
resolution of the cases.
Read more: O Anápolis (Brazil)
May 2018: Freelance truck drivers have
blocked all or part of several highway points
across the country as they protest against the
increase in diesel prices. Protests have caused
major impacts on the supply chain—there
are a lot of gas stations in many cities without fuel; several
cities have reduced bus fleets (public transport); and airports
have run out of fuel for aircraft. This has also caused crises for
delivery of food in supermarkets and medicines in hospitals;
companies have shut down, agricultural production has been
interrupted, and garbage collection halted in some cities. Cargo
transportation is also hampered, and the level of risk for freight
in transit has increased. There were even reports of vandalism
and cargo thefts of in-transit trucks. Companies are avoiding
loading and the recommendation is to halt shipments until the
protests diminish.
Mexico22 May 2018: Glancing constantly at his rear view
mirror, truck driver “El Flaco” journeys the highways
of Mexico haunted by the memory of when he
was kidnapped with his security detail by bandits
disguised as police officers two years ago. Truckers
covering Mexico’s vast territory often move in convoys to reduce
the risk of robberies, which in 2017 almost doubled to nearly
3,000. Some drive with armed escorts traveling alongside them.
Others remove the logos from their trucks. The problem is part
of a wider Latin American scourge of highway robbery that
acts as a further drag on a region long held back by sub-par
infrastructure.
Read more: Reuters
22 May 2018: Police officers came across an
abandoned trailer on highway MEX150D. A
witness in the area informed them that six men
had forced the driver of the abandoned vehicle
out of his truck, beaten him, and taken him in the
direction of a nearby river. Fortunately, the driver was found and
given the necessary medical attention, however police have not
been able to locate the criminals. The driver was transporting 27
tons of salt valued at approx. $200,000 MXN at the time of the
assault.
21 May 2018: Following the arrest of a group
of four individuals aboard a stolen tractor, the
resulting police investigation led officials to a
property in Amozoc, Puebla where they located
sixty stolen vehicles. Among the vehicles were twenty-seven
trailers loaded almost to full capacity with a variety of stolen
goods. The merchandise ranged from home appliances, like
refrigerators and stoves, to food and drinks.
19 May 2018: Mexican railways in Veracruz
have suffered yet another loss at the hands of
local criminal groups. A train travelling through
Orizaba, Veracruz was derailed when criminals
cut the brake system in an attempt to steel its cargo. The
train was transporting approximately 980 tons of wheat and
corn when it collided with another set of stationary freight
wagons, damaging a total of 39 wagons, 4 locomotives, and
5 neighboring houses. The extensive damage has significantly
disrupted supply chains.
sensitech.com SCIC Global Intelligence Note 25 May 2018 7
18 May 2018: Three men attempted to rob an
armored truck outside a grocery store in Iztapalapa.
One of the men had arrived at the site two days
earlier, posing as a street vendor, to stake out the
area. The day of the incident, another individual overpowered
one of the two guards, and both parties engaged in a shootout.
When police arrived, they were able to follow one of the
criminals to a nearby house where they recovered part of the
money that had been stolen. His partner was wounded and
had to be transferred to a nearby hospital, while their lookout
was shot and killed on site. The truck was transporting over
$2,000,000 MXN, but authorities have not disclosed the amount
that was actually stolen and recovered.
18 May 2018: During a routine patrol along
highway Puebla-Córdoba, police came across
a group of armed men near a vehicle with
emergency lights. When they approached the vehicle, the group
of men opened fire on the officers. The criminals managed
to escape, but police were able to seize a military-grade rifle,
bulletproof vests, and false police license plates, all of which
were being used by the criminals to pose as police officers
to set up fake checkpoints where they would intercept cargo
vehicles.
U.S. & Canada23 May 2018: A longtime employee at a British
Columbia Liquor Distribution Branch warehouse in
Vancouver was arrested at work in connection with
the theft of $100,000 worth of alcohol after a four-
month internal investigation. The stolen goods were described
as “boxes and boxes” of hard liquor, totaling about 1,000
bottles.
Read more: CBC News
22 May 2018: There were 115 cargo thefts in
the United States in the first quarter with an
average loss value per incident of $117,283,
according to the SensiGuard Supply Chain
Intelligence Center. Thirty states, the Bureau of Indian Affairs,
and the National Institutes of Health submitted cargo theft data
in the UCR in 2016, according to FBI’s 2016 Crime in the United
States report. In general, nonparticipating states have not made
technical changes necessary to report the thefts in the UCR
code, or they may not have the resources to conduct data
quality checks on incidents associated with cargo theft, the FBI
notes. Still, the SensiGuard report provides a valuable view of
major trends and events in the cargo theft arena.
Read more: Transport Topics
22 May 2018: Four individuals convicted of
participating in a wide-ranging conspiracy to
steal truckloads of high-value merchandise
traveling in interstate commerce were
sentenced in federal court in New Albany,
Indiana. A 23-count indictment alleging that between 2012
and 2015, the members of the conspiracy traveled from
various locations throughout the United States to Virginia,
Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio,
Oklahoma, Tennessee, and other U.S. States in order to steal
property being transported in interstate commerce by semi-
tractor trailers. Members of the group would then transport the
stolen trailers full of merchandise to locations in Kentucky, New
Jersey, Florida, and elsewhere, and sell the stolen merchandise
for financial gain. The court heard that the co-conspirators
would travel long distances to reconnoiter distribution facilities
used by various national companies to distribute high-end
electronics, clothing, pharmaceuticals and cigarettes, among
other products.
Read more: Wisc24.com
21 May 2018: A group representing the vast
majority of the world’s ship owners said world
trade is at risk if issues surrounding new fuel
rules aren’t resolved quickly, providing the
starkest warning yet as to the potential impact
of regulations that are due to enter into force in less than two
years’ time. Starting January 1, 2020, the world’s ships will
need to use fuel that contains no more than 0.5% sulfur, or be
fitted with kit to remove the pollutant, under rules set out by the
International Maritime Organization.
Read more: Bloomberg
sensitech.com
Sensitech Inc. Global Headquarters • 800 Cummings Center • Suite 258X • Beverly, MA 01915-6197
1-800-843-8367 • +1-978-927-7033 • Fax: +1-978-921-2112 • [email protected]
@sensitech
The information contained in this document is the property of Sensitech Inc. This information may not be sold, licensed, or used for business development in any capacity without the prior written consent
of Sensitech Inc. Sensitech Inc. encourages recipients to use this information for cargo theft prevention activities and to share this information in its entirety with colleagues who may also benefit in a theft
prevention capacity. Where possible, we have elected to maintain news articles and briefs in their native grammatical format. ©2018 Sensitech Inc.
30 May 2018
16 May 2018: A funny thing happened to an
older generation of Boeing Co. 747 jumbo jets
on their way to dusty oblivion in desert parking
lots. Instead of being scrapped, the humpbacked
planes are back in demand as workhorses of global shipping.
Booming trade is stoking the need for big, long-range jets to
haul time-sensitive goods, from smartphones made in China to
fresh flowers grown in Latin America.
Read more: Bloomberg
14 May 2018: Once at the mercy
of shippers, truckers now are
turning the tables, thanks to
surging freight demand and a shortage of drivers. Gone are the
days when customers used reliability scorecards to reject some
truckers and kept others waiting for hours with no place to
take a break but portable canopies and grimy restrooms. Now,
companies such as Nestle SA are rushing to make drivers feel
welcome, and shippers that hinder rigs from quick turnarounds
or treat operators shabbily are paying a premium.
Read more: Transport Topics
14 May 2018: On June 5-7, the Commercial
Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) International
Roadcheck will take place. This is the annual
72-hour period when commercial motor vehicle
inspectors conduct inspections on motor vehicles
and drivers. It should come as no surprise that the focus of this
year’s Roadcheck will be hours of service (HOS) compliance.
With the recent full enforcement of the electronic logging device
mandate, it makes sense that this is what CVSA chose as its
focus. And while the ELD mandate did not change the hours of
service rules, it did help shed light on compliance with the HOS
regulations.
Read more: FleetOwner