Over 20,000 rounds of German military ammunition were stolen from the back of a truck parked in an unsecured parking lot near the city of Burg, according to German news outlet Der Spiegel on Tuesday.
A non-military freight company was transporting the ammunition, the German Ministry of Defense confirmed to Der Spiegel, and was parked overnight in an unsecured industrial park's lot when the theft occurred.
Several crates containing approximately 10,000 rounds of live pistol ammunition, 9,900 blank rounds of assault rifle ammunition, and an unspecified amount of smoke grenades were stolen.
The theft was discovered the following day when the driver arrived at a nearby army barracks to deliver the shipment. German soldiers reportedly noticed that the truck’s cargo area showed signs of tampering and investigated, cross-checking the shipping manifest with the delivered materials.
The German Ministry of Defense reportedly described the heist as a very serious security incident.
“We take the theft very seriously, as such ammunition must not fall into the wrong hands,” a German military spokesperson told Der Spiegel.
The individuals responsible for the overnight heist have not yet been identified.
Shipping security procedure breaches
The freight company reportedly violated security procedures required for the transportation of sensitive military materials.
According to Der Spiegel, the contract between the freight company and the German Military specified that two drivers were required to accompany every shipment, with at least one driver responsible for watching the truck and its cargo at all times, including overnight and during all stops.
A preliminary investigation into the theft indicated that only one driver was accompanying the shipment when the ammunition was stolen.
Additionally, the Tuesday stop was reportedly unplanned, with the driver spontaneously deciding to stay in a hotel overnight, leaving the cargo unattended for multiple hours.