A Truck Is Robbed Every Hour in Rio as Bandits Break Record

(Bloomberg) -- Rio de Janeiro’s state recorded 10,599 cases of cargo theft last year -- one every 50 minutes -- with losses of 607 million reais ($189 million) for businesses, according to government data and local industry association Firjan.

Cargo robbery has exploded over the past few years as the Brazilian economy sank into its deepest-ever recession and Rio ran out of money to invest in security -- and even to pay police salaries on time. Yet Firjan said the number of incidents declined 10 percent in the final four months of 2017 versus the same period a year earlier, following implementation of a national security plan with the backing of the federal government.

To read more about the explosion of cargo theft in Rio, click here and here.

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