Borderlands Mexico: Cargo crime continues to disrupt Mexican transport sector

Yahoo

18-05-2025

Borderlands Mexico is a weekly rundown of developments in the world of United States-Mexico cross-border trucking and trade. This week: Cargo crime continues to disrupt Mexican transport sector; Bulkmatic plans $250M intermodal terminal near Monterrey, Mexico; Automotive supplier announces $84M expansion in Mexico; and Amazon plans new delivery station in South Texas.
Cargo theft remains one of the biggest challenges affecting the trucking industry between Mexico and the United States, transportation stakeholders said.
Mexico's National Public Security System (SNSP) reported first-quarter cargo theft cases dropped 20% year over year to 1,636 compared to the same period in 2024.
SNSP's claim of a reduced number of cases has been disputed by the Mexican Association of Private Security and Satellite Industry Companies (AMESIS), which said there were more than 2,000 cargo thefts incidents in just the first two months of the year.'In robberies, we have one every 33 minutes … so we have a problem there,' Rodrigo Larracilla, secretary for AMESIS, told Reforma.
While the number of cargo thefts across Mexico in 2025 is disputed, SNSP said 81% of reported cases in the first quarter involved violence against drivers.
'Cargo theft continues to be one of the main problems affecting logistics chains in the country,' supply chain visibility firm Overhaul said in its 'Mexico: Q1-2025 Cargo Theft Report' released on Tuesday.
Overhaul said 77% of cargo theft incidents in the quarter took place in the central (61%) and western regions (25%) of the country.The central states of Mexico and Puebla each accounted for 19% of the total cargo theft cases in the quarter.
The states of Guanajuato, Hidalgo, Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Veracruz all showed increases compared to the first quarter of 2024.
The three most stolen product types from trucks in the first quarter of 2025 were food and beverages (34%), building and industrial (10%), and auto parts (9%).
The auto parts category increased by 4% year over year, with the most stolen products being
transport cars, tires, and electrical auto parts, Overhaul said.
Cargo theft from trucks in transit was the main tactic used by criminals in the first quarter, accounting for 62.6% of the cases.
Theft from parked trucks was the second most common cargo crime, accounting for 36.8% of
the incidents. Most of these events occurred in high-risk areas for cargo theft such as rest areas or fueling stations.To protect cargo, Overhaul said transporters should use tracking and monitoring devices that provide real-time visibility into the location and status of loads.
'In this way, companies can take immediate action to address potential security threats,' Overhaul said.
Bulkmatic de Mexico recently began construction of a new intermodal terminal in the municipality of Pesquería, Mexico.
The terminal has an initial investment of $250 million and is expected to generate more than 2,300 jobs. Pesquería is on the northern outskirts of Monterrey.
The terminal will handle bulk materials, such as grain, along with food and beverages, plastics, chemicals, and energy, according to a news release. It is expected to begin operations in 2026.
Monterrey-based Bulkmatic de Mexico, founded in 1965, is a transportation and logistics company that operates 14 rail terminals connecting with more than 40 destinations in the country.
China-based Kingfa plans to invest $84 million to expand operations in San Luis Potosi, Mexico.
The investment includes building a manufacturing, research and development complex in the Logistik III Industrial Park in the municipality of Villa de Reyes.
The expansion, scheduled to be completed in 2027, will create 500 direct jobs and enhance the local production chain by attracting more suppliers, officials said.
Kingfa is a global supplier of plastic injection and molding parts for the automotive and consumer products industries. The company operates 20 manufacturing sites across China, India, the U.S., Europe, Malaysia, Mexico and Vietnam.
Amazon plans to build a 62,000-square-foot delivery station in Brownsville, Texas.
The facility will serve as a last-mile delivery hub, receiving packages from fulfillment and sorting centers for final delivery to the local area.
Construction began earlier this month, but officials did not provide a timeline for the facility's completion. The delivery station is expected to create about 100 jobs.
Amazon recently announced it will spend $4 billion to build more than 200 delivery stations by the end of 2026 to triple the size of its rural delivery network in order to speed up delivery times in more parts of the country.
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