Asia’s vast diversity in social, economic, and infrastructural conditions makes it challenging to generalise cargo crime trends across the continent. China, as the world’s manufacturing hub, offers a compelling case study due to its massive circulation of goods.
Cargo crime was once a major issue in China but the situation has improved significantly in recent years. Although the growth rate has slowed recently, overall the higher economic growth rate in the past 20 years has objectively curbed property crimes such as cargo theft. Between 2015 and 2023, theft cases filed by Chinese authorities have consistently declined, with a 79.8% reduction during that period.
Operating methods
However, criminals continue to operate in a number of ways including “jumping on the move” where they climb moving trucks, break locks, steal goods and transfer them to getaway vehicles. They will also take advantage of unattended or weakly guarded periods to enter facilities; collude with “insiders” to steal or switch goods; or exaggerate the fact that certain cargoes (such as coal) will lose weight during transportation. Armed robbery and violent coercion are rarely used, however.
Challenges
To help combat this crime a number of technology trends are being adopted such as GPS tracking (relatively wide adoption); electronic locks & sensors (limited to high-value goods such as electronics); and real-time monitoring which is common among large enterprises but less prevalent in regions such as Hong Kong.
The low visibility of relevant crime data is a particular challenge in this region and cargo theft often involves multiple provinces and cities making cross-provincial coordination of law enforcement agencies difficult. Multiple outsourcing also makes it hard to effectively implement management measures and, sadly, the issue of internal collusion also remains unresolved. Small logistics companies often lack employee background checks and even for large enterprises, temporary workers can be a widespread hidden danger. The temporary worker issue is more serious during peak times such as November and December.
Highly developed e-commerce platforms (especially second-hand goods trading platforms) make it easier to sell stolen goods. Some criminals even sell these goods across borders, transferring them to Southeast Asia, Africa and other places through underground channels to evade domestic investigation.
Potential solutions
However, there are a number of potential solutions available or under development and these include the widespread use of advanced tracking and monitoring technologies (RFID, sensors, 360° surveillance cameras). A robust framework for inter-provincial law enforcement collaboration, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of criminal investigations is being established. Internal controls are being strengthened by implementing rigorous background checks for all employees, including temporary workers, and reinforcing internal auditing and monitoring systems. Importantly, the creation of an industry association to develop a centralised platform for data and information sharing would help significantly. Collaboration to develop unified standards and certification systems would also ensure consistent best practices in cargo security.
