FTA is represented on a number of police and industry groups including JAGOLT (the Joint Action Group On Lorry Theft) and TruckWatch. This bulletin is circulated to members as part of our commitment to support the police in their work against lorry and load theft.
Christmas is coming! Additional drivers, hired-in vehicles, new rosters and routes all provide theft possibilities for opportunists if companies do not stay on their guard. Drivers are reminded of the golden rule - to only accept changes in their delivery or collection instructions from those they know in their own traffic offices (see the third and fourth items, below). Traffic office staff are also reminded to beware bogus callers seeking information on vehicle movements.
Recipients of this e-mail are invited to pass it on to those drivers or other appropriate members of staff in their organisations when it is safe and convenient to do so. This edition has something of an international flavour and an interesting end-of-year report from New Scotland Yard.
Warning re: use of sub-contractors/international
A report from an FTA member has highlighted the need for all companies to ensure that they know as much as they can about those they ask to carry out sub-contract work for them.
Information from a bone fide company in the Czech Republic warns of what appears to be an example of theft on quite a large scale. Loads they have subbed out to a number of carriers, possibly entirely fictitious, during December and early January, have all disappeared before arriving at the consignees' premises.
Be especially careful with loads of electronic goods.
Members should beware giving orders to the following companies:
PETER VAGNER
K-TRANS
TRANS RABB
MB GROUP
MG TRANS
The following registration numbers have been highlighted:
BA 103 SC
BA 834 YO
NZ 896 YJ
BA 690 MV
Four jailed for Winchester cognac raid
Four men face a total of 24 years in prison for their part in an £85,000 cognac raid near Winchester, two years ago.
Richard Onslow, prosecuting, said the charges related to an incident at Sutton Scotney services on the A34 on 29 November 2005, when three balaclava-clad men smashed their way into the cab of a French vehicle driven by Patrick Pledron.
M. Pledron was kidnapped and his consignment of Courvoisier cognac, which was en-route from France to Leicester, stolen. He was driven about six miles north of the service area before being bundled into the back of a Ford Transit van. He was released around 7am, after being held for five hours at the Bradley Wood underpass of the A34.
Mr Onslow added the men had come down from Liverpool to scout for targets in the Hampshire, Berkshire and Dorset areas, two days before the incident.
Crime report for 2007 from Operation Grafton, New Scotland Yard
Members will be pleased to learn that police report there has been a significant decrease in high value crime and incidents in and around Heathrow Airport. This is in no small measure due to the efforts of the Operation Grafton team which works in partnership with the road freight industry and regional police forces. Unfortunately, this state of affairs cannot be said for the rest of the UK and Europe, which has witnessed a significant increase in transport-related crime, particularly in the Netherlands and Spain.
There have been at least two instances in the Netherlands in which UK-registered vehicles have been utilised by hijackers to facilitate their getaway. The Metropolitan Police are working closely with the Dutch Police (KLPD) and assisting these investigations. In early December, Grafton assisted another Dutch investigation and was instrumental in providing a live video link between the UK and a court in the Hague, allowing UK-based witnesses to give evidence in a robbery trial.
Since the introduction of reverse charging of VAT by HM Revenue and Customs last June, there has been a significant decrease in the movement of mobile phones by road. This, in turn, has afforded less opportunity for organised criminal gangs to hijack vehicles and rob them of this and similar commodities. Analysis of crime trends would appear to suggest that these types of offences have now been displaced to continental Europe.
In the run up to Christmas there was a resurgence of ram-raid style offences. Operation Grafton officers regularly briefed the relevant law enforcement stakeholders in and around Heathrow and witnessed a co-ordinated increased police presence in and around freight warehouses fitting the ram-raid profile. Reports indicate that police activities disrupted and thwarted a number of gangs intent on attacking commercial premises and recovered a number of stolen vehicles linked to these offences.
A more worrying trend has been a potential linked series of robberies/aggravated burglaries in and around the Home Counties (Berkshire, Hampshire and London) where a gang of criminals, between five and 10 in number, has forcibly accessed warehouse/business premises dressed as uniformed police officers. Staff at these premises have been handcuffed and computer hardware stolen.
Police advise members to exercise extreme caution when staff receive unsolicited visits from police: always authenticate the identity of any officer, whether in uniform or not, by asking for proof of ID before affording access. If in doubt, call 999.
A national trend has seen the increase of burglaries at premises housing data centres and IT equipment, in particular locations with CISCO and Sun Micro system routers and hard drives. Many freight sites have fallen victim to these offences and members are asked by police that they urgently review security arrangements and audit access to these locations.
More good results from police/industry partnerships
Figures released earlier this month by the British Security Industry Association show a 28 per cent drop in cash-in-transit attacks since the implementation of a partnership between the police, the GMB trade union, and the banking, retail and security industries.
A charter to tackle the menace of cash-in-transit robbery was signed at the Home Office last May which led to the development of an action plan. This was significant because it bound together for the first time all the key stakeholders into a group which is now starting to deliver results. Between January and June there were 617 attacks on vans and their crews; between July and December, 442 were recorded. Intelligence sharing, improved site safety and focused police activity have all contributed to the improvement during the second half of 2007.
For the future, all stakeholders are determined to achieve a further significant reduction in attacks during 2008, offering continuing innovation and the deployment of significant resources. The group's work will benefit the couriers, their families and the general public.
New driver protection device
FTA has learnt of a new product designed to protect the rear doors of a vehicle or container when parked up during a driver's rest period; typically overnight in an industrial estate or layby.
Unlike a seal or bulldog clamp, the 'Zenloc' device fixes magnetically to the rear doors between the locking bars. If removed without first being disarmed by the driver, it emits a piercing alarm and sends a signal to its sister component kept in the lorry cab to notify the driver that the cargo area doors are being interfered with. The unit will be on sale from May this year and any members interested in more details may contact Barry Schofield at Freight Protection Systems Ltd - tel: 07775 592 545
If anyone has information regarding incidents which should be notified to the police you can contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Other contacts
TRUCKWATCH
Some areas of the UK operate TruckWatch schemes, whereby companies in a local area undertake to watch out for each other if one of the group members reports a vehicle stolen. To find out whether a scheme operates in your area contact your local police station.
TRUCKPOL
TruckPol is the nationwide police intelligence service based near Coventry, which records information on all aspects of road freight crime. By submitting information to TruckPol you could help police solve a serious crime in our industry.
Tel: 02476 516 246
Tel: 02476 826 123
Fax: 02476 826 131
Email: truckpol@avcis.pnn.police.uk
Website: www.truckpol.com
FTA
If you would prefer us to make contact with the police on your behalf, FTA’s manager of lorry and load theft issues is Donald Armour.
Tel: 01892 55 22 61
Fax: 01892 534 989
Email: darmour@fta.co.uk
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