Mexico concentrates 68% of cargo theft in North America

According to a study, after Mexico, the United States still has 23 percent, while Canada has 4 percent in incidents of cargo theft. Cargo theft in Mexico represents 68 percent of the total recorded in North America, according to a report by the consulting firm BSI, a specialist in distribution chains and the provider of insurance and risk management services TT Club, a report that includes comparisons by region worldwide.

The consultant that provides solutions to governments and companies to identify risks in supply chains, indicated that in cargo theft in North America the United States continues with a share of 23 percent, while Canada occupies 4 percent, while in the item "others" have 5 percent. In their report published this year, BSI and TT Club report that in the United States and Canada the types of robberies are more reserved for unattended cargo trucks, while in Mexico and most of Central America the robberies are aggressive and often violent.

Thieves in the United States and Canada often steal unattended cargo trucks parked in unsafe locations, such as truck stops and gas stations; vehicle hijackings are extremely rare in these countries. In contrast, thieves in Mexico and Central America use the hijacking of cargo trucks as their main tactic. In most of the incidents BSI records in this region, thieves often use and occasionally use, firearms to force truck drivers onto the road.

Thieves often take drivers, hostage, during truck hijackings, usually holding them for a short period to delay police response, the study says. The consultant indicates that in the region the type of theft with the highest percentage is truck hijacking with 37 percent, followed by theft of trailer box or container with 25 percent and vehicle theft with 15 percent. Thefts in facilities represent 9 percent; emptying the vehicle 7 percent and the item "other theft" 7 percent.

Among the most stolen items in North America were first food and beverages, with 33 percent; followed by consumer products, with 19 percent; building materials, with 9 percent; electronics, with 6 percent; alcohol and tobacco, with 5 percent; manufacturing materials, with 5 percent; pharmaceuticals, with 5 percent; and others, with 18 percent. The general director of the firm specialized in security, Sky Angel, Ruben Almonte, explained that one of the main problems in Mexico is that the investments made for security within companies are low, only 3.3 percent on average when the level of investment is more developed countries such as Canada and the United States reach averages of 20 percent.

What is cargo theft?

Cargo theft is defined as "The criminal taking of any cargo including, but not limited to, goods, chattels, money, or baggage that constitutes, in whole or in part, a commercial shipment of freight moving in commerce, from any pipeline system, railroad car, motor truck, or another vehicle, or from any tank or storage facility, station house, platform, or depot, or any vessel or wharf, or any aircraft, air terminal, airport, aircraft terminal or air navigation facility, or from any intermodal container, intermodal chassis, trailer, container freight station, warehouse, freight distribution facility, or freight consolidation facility.

For purposes of this definition, cargo shall be deemed as moving in commerce at all points between the point of origin and the final destination, regardless of any temporary stop while awaiting transshipment or otherwise." This definition was developed, not as a legal description for prosecutorial purposes, but to capture the essence of the national cargo theft problem in the United States. The legal elements of knowledge and intent were intentionally omitted.