Organised Crime: Freight
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the extent of organised criminal gang involvement in freight and cargo theft in England and Wales.
Answered by Sarah Jones
This Government is highly aware of the rising frequency of freight crime and the significant and damaging impact it can have on businesses and drivers. We are determined to crack down on it.
The incidence of freight crime, where criminals are ripping the sides of lorries and taking the goods inside, is frightening for those dedicated HGV drivers across the UK, and the perception this crime is low risk and high reward is unacceptable.
Working in collaboration with policing, the Home Office have agreed to the creation of a freight crime flag which will be attached to any applicable crime. The data will be collected as part of the Annual Data Return.
The flag is currently being piloted in a small number of forces. Upon the data returns and assessment of the data, the intention is to roll it out across all forces.
No formal assessment has been carried out to determine how much freight crime is linked to organised crime groups (OCGs).
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