Glasgow probe into food thefts
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POLICE in Strathclyde have mounted a major investigation into large-scale pilfering from Glasgow road haulage firms. The investigation is organised by the Serious Crime Squad and police believe that the value of the stolen goods runs into many thousands of pounds.
Main target has been canned food. A spokesman for the Scottish section of the Road Haulage Association confirmed: "Pilfering from our lorries costs thousands of pounds every year. Almost every firm in the country is affected. The trouble is there are so many places where goods can be stolen without the driver even knowing about it."
He claimed that the, transport industry had lost a measure of security because of modern methods of loading. "When cases are loaded on pallets and fork-lift trucks load the whole thing into a lorry there is no guarantee that the cases on the inside of the load contain any goods.
"It has been known for the centre of a pallet load to be made up of empty cases. Of course our drivers in all innocence sign for these cases. And it is not unusual for the cases to be opened up then resealed. Again it is only at the destination that anything is found to be missing. Canned goods particularly disappear in this way."