Abbott hit by $4m diagnostics theft in USA

Abbott Laboratories is the latest drugmaker to fall prey to cargo thieves in the USA, losing a full truckload of diabetes testing equipment last weekend from a carrier facility lot in Louisville, Kentucky. 

The stolen shipment consisted of 37 pallets of diabetes testing equipment and is valued at approximately $4m, a little below the average US pharmaceutical cargo theft value estimated by security firm Freightwatch International.

Products taken in the haul include lancets, control solutions and Freestyle and Precision brand glucose test strips, according to the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Consortium (PCSC). The product stolen in the highest quantities was FreeStyle Lite strips, with more than 30,000 50-count cartons missing.

The truck was en route from a UPS facility in Louisville to a McKesson wholesale unit in Aurora, California, and had made a stop at a facility operated by the carrier company - Carnes Trucking Co - in Louisville on the evening of Friday June 17.

Both the trailer and tractor were stolen from the Carnes facility sometime before 2am on Sunday June 19, when the theft was reported by a Carnes employee.

"Cargo theft gangs operating in Louisville have been the topic of multiple bulletins issued throughout the supply chain industry and clearly are continuing to actively target high-value goods in the area," commented Dan Burges, senior director of intelligence at Freightwatch.

"Shippers are strongly encouraged to review their facility and in-transit security programs for operations in the Louisville area, and to consider this area a high-risk zone such as Miami, Memphis or Dallas Forth Worth."