The Mexico-Veracruz highway and the Orizaba-Veracruz toll road are both considered high-risk highways as they are targeted for cargo theft, showed the latest report by FreightWatch.
 
They are considered in the top three of dangerous roads in Mexico, including highways 134, 950, 150, 129 & 140. Veracruz had a reported 71 cargo thefts last year.
 
FreightWatch, which specialises in tracking cargo thefts and supply chain information around the globe, reported a severe risk rating for rail and road freight in Mexico.
 
In 2012 the Mexican Secretariat of Government published an official report of nearly 5,000 cargo theft incidents nationwide for the year. However, the report contained information provided by different states, and the figures were sometimes compiled of general theft and cargo theft together, with no differentiation.
Cargo theft figures give an idea of hotspots, but they are not entirely accurate as a lot of theft is not reported. A possible disadvantage to reporting cargo theft is negative public perception. A carrier could lose current or potential customers who are worried the company was involved in the theft or does not have correct security procedures in place.

Similarly, retailers may not want to acknowledge that they were victims of cargo theft. The alleged supply chain weakness could give competitors a tactical advantage.

Cargo theft is a serious threat to the supply chain industry in Mexico and incidents are rising. Yearly losses are estimated in the billions of dollars.
 
Fourth quarter data for 2012-2013 from FreightWatch shows that cargo thefts increased just over 14% year-on-year.
 
According to FreightWatch, the most targeted cargo is food and drink, and building and industrial sectors, and hijacking is common. These sectors totalled 83% of all reported incidents in 2012. Theft of trailers increased from 5% in 2012 to 10% in 2013, and theft from trailer, rail theft, warehouse burglaries and deceptive stops grew from between 3% and 5% of the total thefts recorded in 2012 to 6% the following year. Driver thefts rose from less than 1% in 2012 to 3% last year.