Illicit Oil Products News

Hijacking for Product Theft is Business as Usual in Southeast Asia

Well-established local criminal syndicate diversifying its targets rather than undertaking new operations says Denmark-based security advisory and intelligence company Risk Intelligence. The recent hijacking cases of coastal product tankers in Southeast Asia for the theft of their cargos represent a diversification of the threat rather than a new trend. “It’s a case of new diesel in old tankers,” said the CEO of Risk Intelligence, Hans Tino Hansen. Hijacking for product theft can be documented as far back as 1990s in Southeast Asia. The most active syndicate has usually favored boarding the preselected targets in the same general location and always during the region’s dry season between March and October.