The robbery of transport trucks has increased 25% during the coronavirus quarantine period and car theft is up 10%, according to a company that specializes in the recovery of stolen vehicles.

The director of LoJack México told the newspaper El Universal that the company had started to see a decline in vehicle theft but numbers shot up again with the commencement of the Covid-19 containment measures.

“About three months ago we started to see very encouraging figures, especially in the central part of the country. … But since the lockdown we’ve had a very marked increase in [the robbery of] heavy vehicles,” David Román said.

He said that thieves are primarily targeting trucks carrying basic goods such as food and other essentials.

“Unfortunately [truck theft] has gone up in virtually the whole country,” Román said, adding that some parts of Mexico have seen sharper increases than others.

“Strangely enough, two municipalities that weren’t reporting such high levels, Zapopan and Guadalajara [both in Jalisco], are starting to have very serious problems. [And] the Mexico City-Puebla corridor continues to be a very significant focal point for these gangs,” he said.

Román said that the highest number of car thefts continue to be in the México state municipalities of Ecatepec and Nezahualcóyotl, both part of the greater Mexico City metropolitan area.

The LoJack chief said that crises always lead to an increase in criminal activity, adding that the National Guard and the army are currently more focused on the response to Covid-19 than public security tasks.

“It reduces the support they provide to other sectors,” he said.

Román warned people to take extra care of their vehicles given that they are more susceptible to theft now than during rosier economic times. He added that LoJack México has an 85% recovery rate of stolen vehicles fitted with the company’s radio transceivers.

Source: El Universal (sp)