Introducing our SOAC Threat Assessment 2026

Serious and organised acquisitive crime is often hidden in plain sight.

What appears as isolated theft, retail loss or supply chain disruption is frequently part of coordinated activity driven by organised networks. But in many organisations, this activity is still understood – and managed – as a series of individual incidents.

Today, we’re publishing our Serious and Organised Acquisitive Crime (SOAC) Threat Assessment 2026, which takes a different view.

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An area of crime that isn’t always joined up

Serious and organised acquisitive crime spans a wide range of activity, including retail theft, vehicle crime, commercial robbery, supply chain attacks and infrastructure theft.

These are often discussed as separate issues, with different responses, teams and systems. But in practice, they are often connected – part of a broader system involving the theft, movement, resale and laundering of goods.

That makes the overall picture harder to see, and the activity itself harder to disrupt.

Why this matters for organisations

For many organisations, this activity doesn’t present as organised crime. It shows up as:

• Repeat incidents
• Low-level or persistent loss
• Disconnected reports across sites or teams

This creates a blind spot.

When incidents are treated in isolation, patterns are missed. And when patterns are missed, opportunities to intervene earlier, and reduce harm, are lost.

The impact is seen across sectors, particularly those dealing with high-value goods, distributed operations or public-facing environments, where organised activity can expose people to risk and create ongoing operational and financial pressure.

A more connected view of the threat

Our latest threat assessment reframes acquisitive crime as a connected system, not a set of isolated issues.

It looks at how activity is linked across:

• Theft
• Transport and storage
• Resale and distribution
• Laundering of proceeds

By taking this perspective, it becomes easier to understand how seemingly minor or localised incidents can form part of wider, coordinated activity.

From incidents to patterns

A key theme throughout the report is the need to move beyond incident-led thinking.

In many cases, the challenge is not a lack of data – it’s that information is fragmented across systems, teams or locations, making it difficult to connect the dots.

The organisations that are most effective in tackling this type of activity are those that can:

• Build a clearer, joined-up view of what is happening
• Identify repeat behaviours across time and place
• Act earlier, based on patterns rather than individual events

Supporting more effective disruption

Addressing serious and organised acquisitive crime requires a more coordinated approach — one that connects information, improves visibility and supports better decision-making.

This is where an intelligence-led approach becomes critical. By building a clearer picture of activity over time, organisations are better equipped to identify risk, prioritise response and work with partners to disrupt organised networks.

Our Serious and Organised Acquisitive Crime Threat Assessment 2026 explores these themes in more detail, with practical insight for organisations dealing with this type of activity.

Access the full assessment