Cargo Theft Incident: This week Farsight’s CCTV monitoring team played an instrumental role in thwarting a well organised raid on a Transport & Logistics firm based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire. A criminal gang were spotted by Farsight’s eagle eyed CCTV operators in the early hours of 24th May within the secure site.
At first glance, the incident could have been mistaken for the start of an early pickup shift, however, knowing the usual working patterns of the business, Farsight acted quickly in notifying the keyholders and calling in the police.
The highly organised criminal gang seemed to know exactly what they were doing, hitching a trailer loaded with valuable cosmetic products to their own lorry cab (which they brought with them), making off with the trailer within only a few minutes. Were it not for the fast actions of the Farsight CCTV monitoring team, the crooks would have been gone for good – along with the goods.
However, because the incident was ‘eye-witnessed’ and visually verified by our remote CCTV monitoring team based at the Farsight Observatory, police were dispatched fast and efficiently – armed with crucial details about the incident.
The trailer was recovered within half an hour and the driver was arrested following a police pursuit involving a helicopter and armed response unit. This incident demonstrated just how effective Farsight’s CCTV monitoring security services can be in proactively responding to security breaches and supporting the priority response of emergency services with accurate, real-time and visually verified ‘eye-witness’ information.
A spokesperson for the transport business, based in Lutterworth, Leicestershire commented,
‘This is the second cargo theft we have been subjected to, the first incident resulted in loss, prompting us to strengthen our security measures with a monitored CCTV service from Farsight. The outcome of this latest raid demonstrated just how effective monitored CCTV can be in proactively responding to this type of organised crime. Farsight has a good understanding of our business and quickly discerned that something was wrong – raising the alarm. Their fast response prompted a priority call out from Leicestershire Police who’s swift action prevented another loss.”
This is how the incident played out from the gang’s forced entry to the secured transport yard through to hitching the trailer and making off with their haul:
The incident was reported by Leicestershire Live and the full article can be read here: Stolen trailer full of cosmetics recovered by police in Lutterworth thanks to ‘eagle-eyed’ witness
Sadly, this incident affecting the transport and logistic sector in the UK is not an isolated event. According to the Home Office in a report of Lorry Crime Prevention, road freight crime is a common problem that is costing the UK economy a staggering £250 million every year.
Professional Security Magazine recently reported that according to TAPA (Transport Asset Protection Association) last year the UK had 3,100 reported incidents of cargo thefts – the highest in Europe!
However, this figures are just the tip of iceberg as most cargo thefts during road, ocean, air freight and rail transport are still not reported by victims to TAPA’s incident database. Thorsten Neumann of TAPA (EMEA) comments:
“At a time when most businesses were focused almost entirely on a fight for survival, and law enforcement agencies faced the added pressure of policing new government lockdowns, traditional channels of cargo crime data were, as expected, also severely impacted. Consequently, it is difficult to give a meaningful comparison with previous years. However, while some criminal operations would have been disrupted by lockdown measures, 2020 still saw the second-highest rate of incidents in TAPA’s 24-year history”
TAPA’s Incident Information Service (IIS) is a data and mapping tool which helps members to source intelligence on cargo thefts to help protect the resilience of their supply chains. TAPA members use IIS to protect the security of their drivers, vehicles and customers’ products. The intelligence they gather from the searchable IIS database enables them to avoid cargo thefts hotspots and plan the most secure transportation routes.
To see how TAPA’s IIS works, please take a moment to watch the following Explainer Video:
To report a cargo loss incident to TAPA click here
Want to get proactive to limit cargo thefts affecting your business?
Consider optimising your Transport & Logistics site security with Farsight remote CCTV monitoring services…
Effective CCTV monitoring has become a crucial element to consider when optimising businesses security to protect premises, assets and people. So, how does remote CCTV monitoring work?
In our experience, by combining CCTV monitoring with live, proactive audio warnings can be particularly effective in deterring security breach incidents before they progress. In fact, during 2020 Farsight CCTV operators issued a mammoth 119,901 audio deterrent warnings and progressed almost 10,000 incidents to blue light services demonstrating a proactive security deterrent approach rather than a retrospective one.
As a leading UK based remote monitoring station, Farsight works with security systems installers and business sites across the Transport & Logistic Sector to help protect their premises, assets and people with our range of security monitoring services. Our services Include:
We can help to protect what’s yours from theft, fire or malicious damage… we’d love to see how we can work with you to optimise your farm security…contact us below:
