 | Cargo theft incidents in the United States were up 24 percent in the third quarter. Texas beat out California for the state with the most reported cargo theft incidents in the quarter, accounting for 24 percent of all thefts – a 105 percent increase over the second quarter. California also accounted for 24 percent of thefts nationwide, followed by Florida, Georgia and New Jersey at 9 percent each. Full truckload theft was the most common theft type, accounting for 82 percent of all reported thefts with an average loss value of $128,450. |
 | In Rio de Janeiro the thefts — which occur on average more than once an hour and are often staged by scores of criminals carrying assault rifles — have forced the national postal service to stop street deliveries in some parts of Rio, while supermarkets have raised their prices to pay for the losses. “The situation in Rio is out of control,” says an expert. “We now say this has stopped being theft and it has almost turned into looting.” The government of Brazil has deployed troops to the city of Rio de Janeiro to try to slow the rise of cargo theft, which rose 22 percent last year to 22,500 thefts. |
