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

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.

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

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.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Biller in Rio de Janeiro at dbiller1@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Vivianne Rodrigues at vrodrigues3@bloomberg.net, Walter Brandimarte

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.