Pharmaceutical cargo thefts thwarted

Two shipments of pharmaceutical products stolen in the last few days in the USA have been recovered thanks to the use of covert tracking devices supplied by Freightwatch, according to the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Consortium.

The first case involved the theft of a full truckload (FTL), multi-million dollar shipment of medicines at a truckstop in Jefferson, Ohio, on July 16, en route from Tennessee.  The thief disabled a GPS device in the rig but was tracked by another GPS tracker hidden in the shipment itself.  Swift notification of the police led to a man being detained a little over an hour later.

A GPS tracking device also played a pivotal role in the recovery of a pharmaceutical courier van hijacked by an armed individual in Detroit, Michigan, also on July 16. The van was recovered empty by police but a search of a nearby property led to the recovery of a "sizeable amount of pharmaceutical products," according to the PCSC.

Meanwhile, there was an attempted theft of an FTL pharmaceutical shipment at a truckstop in Royce City, Texas, once again on July 16. The cargo door seal had been broken but no product had been taken from the truck, which was en route from Mexico to Mississippi.  The case follows on the heels of a number of other cargo theft incidents in the Royce City area, which could indicate a gang is operating in the vicinity.


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