CARGO THEFT * USA - Thefts Plague Drug Makers

Connecticut Heist Is Latest in Rash of Hits on Trucks, Warehouses

New York,NY,USA -The Wall Stree Journal, by AMIR EFRATI & JONATHAN D. ROCKOFF -23 March 2010: ... Criminal gangs that used to steal laptops and fragrances are increasingly targeting high-value painkillers, drugs for erectile dysfunction, antidepressants and other medications, law-enforcement officials say... Some of the stolen medicine is sold on the black market in the U.S. and abroad, and an undetermined amount makes its way to U.S. pharmacy and hospital shelves... For patients, that can be dangerous because some sensitive drugs aren't stored by the thieves in proper conditions. Last year, several diabetes patients lost control of their blood-sugar levels after they unwittingly used stolen insulin, which must be refrigerated...

Some drug companies said they were beefing up security around their warehouses and outfitting supply trucks with monitoring devices. Others have put global positioning system devices in trucks or imprint drug containers with tracking devices or codes that can be checked at various points in the supply chain...