Cargo thieves hit pharma company shipments

The last couple of weeks have seen several cargo theft incidents take place in the USA, including two 'last mile' incidents involving couriers and two less-than-truckload (LTL) thefts involving Mead Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

- A courier van driver was briefly kidnapped and his load stolen whilst delivering to a Rite Aid pharmacy in Sherman Oaks, California, on October 7. The driver was unharmed but the thieves made off with the contents of the delivery truck. The thieves - two men - posed as police during the theft and were armed with guns, according to local press reports. The value of the load has not been dislosed.

- Another incident in California, this time in Santa Anna and also occurring on October 7. In this incident the truck driver saw two men trying to get into the back of her vehicle whilst leaving the pharmacy, and their attempt was foiled by the intervention of a bystander. No product was touched during the attempted robbery.

- Mead Johnson suffered a less-than-truckload (LTL) theft of infant formula products on September 24. The incident in Dandridge, Tennessee, resulted in the loss of 480 cases of Enfamil Gentlease Lipil powder and 1,600 cases of Enfamil Premium powder. As the truck contained a GPS tracking device it was recovered. But the trailer remains at large.

- Procter & Gamble lost an LTL shipment on September 27 in Buckhorn, Pennsylvania. The shipment consisted of consumer goods but no over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, reports the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Consortium.