Hijackings continue to pose significant risks for businesses and private citizens as global economic pressures drive demand for cheaper goods on black markets. Neil Mugabe examines notable trends in hijackings in 2025, and key hotspots where such events are likely to occur.
Traditional ‘heists’ – involving physical interventions and robberies while a vehicle or vessel is in transit – remain a lucrative albeit risky endeavour. Some trends persist across regions; private vehicle hijackings (carjackings) are prevalent in countries like South Africa and Mexico, which experience high levels of violent criminality, wealth inequality, and reduced law enforcement capabilities. Cargo hijackings remain a cross-jurisdictional issue, accounting for 21 percent of cargo theft incidents globally according to a 2025 British Standards Institution study, with logistics hubs like ports and overland transport corridors reporting higher concentrations of incidents. Meanwhile, high-demand, easily resold goods like food and beverages are still the most commonly targeted cargo types.
However, criminals have now leverage sophisticated cyber-enabled schemes to hijack carrier accounts and shipments. In countries like the US, where ‘contactless’ approaches have seen an uptick, this could reduce threats of violence to drivers, but expand opportunities for remotely orchestrated hijackings. Meanwhile, vessel hijackings remain low globally, but have increased in recent years, coinciding with a rise in Somali piracy.
Over the coming year, the combination of elevated black-market demand, cyber-facilitated opportunities, and continually adapting criminal tactics will sustain hijacking threats worldwide, although incident dynamics will continue to vary across hotspots.
Fuelled by organised crime and a booming stolen vehicle market, South Africa sees at least 50-60 hijackings daily. Mpumalanga Province has emerged as a hotspot alongside the usual high-risk areas of Eastern Cape and Gauteng. Hijackings targeting commercial vehicles are increasingly prevalent – particularly along the N3 Durban-Johannesburg highway. According to a South African vehicle tracking company, business-owned vehicles are 48 percent more likely to be targeted than private vehicles. Hijackings increasingly occur on weekdays, and are timed to coincide with delivery schedules, driving heightened concerns around insider collusion.
Private vehicles and public transport are also exposed, with police reporting 13,968 carjackings between January and September 2025, commonly targeting pickup trucks. Criminals have demonstrated intent and capability to operate in urban centres like Johannesburg, and to target high-profile individuals, including politicians.
Cargo hijackings have surged in Brazil and Mexico in 2025, especially in the states of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and central Mexico. Amid increased coffee prices, Brazilian operators have suffered rising coffee cargo hijackings, while hijackers in Mexico target produce like limes and avocados, tequila, and ore. In July, an armed group in two vehicles hijacked a truck transporting gold and silver along the Durango-Manzanillo highway near Guadalajara, holding the driver and two security guards hostage for over an hour. Foreign companies in Mexico report receiving extortion demands for ‘protection’ against hijackings in Puebla and Toluca, cities with substantial foreign manufacturing investment.
Criminals also target private vehicles, and an association of Mexican insurers reported violence against drivers in 57 percent of carjackings from January to June 2025, driven by push-to-start and keyless vehicles that require the driver to unlock. In November, the US Consulate warned of several carjackings on highway 85D in Nuevo Leon targeting foreign and out-of-town license plates, with perpetrators flashing vehicle lights to mimic traffic authorities.
The US and Canada are experiencing historically high levels of cargo theft, and commercial hubs like New York City, Ontario and Toronto are attractive locations for hijackings, which target food and beverages, electronics, and high-value consumer goods. While armed robberies targeting vehicles in transit remain a significant concern, hijackers are increasingly opting for less risky methods like colluding with cybercriminals to access and clone carrier accounts, and arranging fraudulent pickups to divert and hijack shipments.
In November 2025, criminals hijacked two trucks in Texas, containing 440 cases of tequila worth approximately USD 1 million, co-owned by two US celebrities. The hired logistics company had outsourced transport operations to two trucking companies, one of which was fake, and operated by a criminal organisation. The shipment was redirected to Los Angeles, although police later recovered half of the cases.
There were at least 6 reported vessel hijackings in 2025, and while incidents are few compared to other maritime crimes like robbery due to the time and risk involved, they have increased in recent years. Hijackings in the Gulf of Guinea, where two incidents were reported, carry associated kidnapping risks. Meanwhile, vessel rerouting along East Africa due Houthi attacks on vessels in the Red Sea, has emboldened Somali pirates. Three out of four hijackings in the area in 2025 targeted Yemeni dhows, used as motherships from which to target vessels further offshore, although commercial vessels continue to report attempted hijackings, boardings and approaches by pirate skiffs.