Criminal Gangs Target UK Game Shipments

British trade association ELSPA has sent out a warning e-mail to UK publishers, warning they may be being targeted by criminal gangs. In the past few weeks several publishers have seen deliveries of games being hijacked, suggesting an organized and specifically targeted campaign. Once hijacked, the deliveries are taken to a new destination and the contents unloaded and stolen. Although this is the first time that video game merchandise has been involved on a large scale, similar crimes have become such a general problem in the London area that the Metropolitan Police have set up a specialist crime unit, named TruckPol, to deal with it. The ELSPA e-mail advises all publishers to be aware of the problem, and to take extra security measures during the busy build-up to Christmas.