35,000 pints of stolen Guinness, 950 wheels of pilfered cheese: can the UK’s cargo theft crisis be stopped?
From The Audio Long Read by The Guardian
April 17, 2026 · 41 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the impact of cargo theft on the UK economy and the challenges faced in combating this crime.
It costs the UK economy £700m a year, and criminal gangs are operating with near impunity. Every time a lorry gets robbed, raided or hijacked, it’s Mike Dawber who investigates By Stuart McGurk. Read by Nicholas Camm. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/longreadpod
People in this episode
Host: Stuart McGurk
Guest: Nicholas Camm
Topics covered
- cargo theft
- UK economy
- criminal gangs
- investigation
- logistics
- society
- crime
Keywords
- cargo theft
- UK economy
- criminal gangs
- logistics
- investigation
- theft crisis
- Guinness
- cheese
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: The Guardian
Places: UK
More episodes of The Audio Long Read
- ‘Should we leave them to die?’ The battle over how to save orangutans from the curse of palm oil · June 12, 2026 · 42 min
- From the archive: Sold to the Trump family: one of the last undeveloped islands in the Mediterranean · June 10, 2026 · 21 min
- Prisoner number 804: the plot to erase Imran Khan · June 8, 2026 · 48 min
- ‘I couldn’t breathe’: the sinister spread of France’s killer seaweed · June 5, 2026 · 32 min
- Three abandoned children, two missing parents and a 40-year mystery · June 3, 2026 · 48 min
- After a hard-fought victory to legalise medical cannabis in the UK, why is it still so hard to access? · June 1, 2026 · 30 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Audio Long Read podcast page.