Phil Taylor in a July 14th story in SecuringPharma.com updates and provides detail to the recent in-transit cargo theft of GlaxoSmithKline products in Pennsylvania late last month.
The thefts of the two trailers had a combined value estimated at about $400,000. One trailer load of products was recovered, thanks to an on-board GPS tracking device.
According to the SecuringPharma.com story:
- The two trailer loads contained personal care products such as Aquafresh mouthwash and Sensodyne toothpaste and were taken at a logistics provider terminal in York. The thieves moved the loads to another logistics provider site, stole a tractor fitted with the GPS device, and drove one of the trailers away. It was subsequently recovered with about two-thirds of its contents in New Jersey. The other trailer remains unaccounted for, according to an update from the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Consortium.
The SecuringPharma.com piece also included some news on two other pharmaceutical cargo thefts:
- The Florida TOMCATS - a specialist police group focusing on cargo theft - has recovered a load of around 35,000 albuterol 3ml vials worth around $500,000 which had been stolen back in August 2009. The theft occurred whilst in transit from a manufacturing site in South Carolina to a distribution centre in Texas.
- Proctor & Gamble lost a shipment of its products (assorted razors and related items) worth over $600,000 from a truckstop in Iowa on July 3. The load was being carried by shipping firm Schneider National.
The issue of pharmaceutical cargo theft energizes the need for material screening of products within the supply chain, from manufacturer to dispenser, to properly protect consumers everywhere.
As the value and prevalence increases, so too does the potential risk to consumers.
To read all of Phil Taylor’s story, visit: http://www.securingpharma.com/40/articles/522.php
To learn more about pharmaceutical supply chain security verification solutions, visit: http://www.xstreamsystems.net/.
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