Organised crime gangs lurking on motorways send cargo thefts soaring by half to £102m - with 'homegrown' groups blamed for majority of raids on lorry drivers to seize luxury brands

Organised crime gangs are lurking on motorways to steal cargo from lorry drivers and targeting luxury brand deliveries, experts claim. Make up, perfume, clothing and tech are among products snatched from lorries on the road or parked at motorway services A gang seen targeting a lorry with high-value presents inside Almost all - 99 per cent - of the thieving is carried out by homegrown criminal networks based in Coventry, Essex, Leeds, Liverpool and London The M6 is a target for gin and whiskey being transported from Scotland Speaking to The Times, Michael Dawber, a field intelligence officer at the National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, said: 'Cargo theft is seen as 'low risk, high reward' by criminals if they can pull it off and clever marketing strategies mean stolen goods are often hiding in plain sight. Haulage firm bosses also say they are powerless to stop rising thefts from their lorries conducted by Goodfellas-style organised crime gangs, who are stealing food, cigarettes and alcohol to sell on the black market. The National Vehicle Crime Intelligence Service, a nationwide police initiative tracking and cracking down on freight crime, says it is aware of 5,000 freight crimes in 2022, with £70million of goods stolen. A vehicle which had earlier failed to stop for police, leading to a chase on the northbound M606, ended up containing stolen booze A £70,000 stash of stolen whisky was found in the back of a lorry by police in an incident that briefly closed the M606 near Bradford Two males, who were in the lorry, were arrested by police In December, it was made aware of thefts including a trailer containing £50,000 of cheese, while another was stolen containing food and washing powder at an industrial estate in Kidderminster.