Europol warns about a new phenomenon where criminals use a ‘Trojan horse’ method to gain access to delivery lorries by concealing themselves in large wooden boxes. The boxes marked as ‘Fragile’ are picked-up by parcel delivery services. Once the box is inside a lorry, en route to its final destination, the criminals escape from the box to steal valuable items also inside the lorry, such as jewellery, phones or electronics.
Accomplices following from a distance then simulate an accident to stop the vehicle, enabling those hidden inside to escape via holes cut out of the vehicle roof.
Cargo thefts involving simulated accidents are quite common and thefts from moving trucks have also been reported on a regular basis. However, the Trojan horse modus operandi outlined above is a new phenomenon.
Europol has issued an early warning notification regarding this particular modus operandi, reported by Spanish law enforcement authorities, to all police forces in Europe.