Actavis loses oxycodone, epilepsy meds in cargo theft

Cargo thieves have struck again, stealing more than 30 pallets of opioid analgesics, benzodiazepines and epilepsy drugs made by the generics firm Actavis.

The missing meds include 14 pallets of oxycodone HCl tablets, 6 pallets of anxiety drug alprazolam and 9 pallets of the epilepsy drug gabapentin, the estimated value of which has yet to be disclosed, according to Securing Pharma.

The thieves made their move while the shipment was en route from Elizabeth, NJ, to a warehouse in Louisville, KY, Securing Pharma reports. The truck was stolen when the driver left it running while he ran into a store to buy cigarettes.

Although a number of preventive measures were taken to secure the pharmaceutical cargo, the expert thieves escaped, eventually ditching the tractor and making off with their loot and the trailer.

Despite this recent theft, drugmakers have made strides in preventing cargo theft, taking care in choosing transportation and warehousing vendors, among other measures. The number of incidents has been reduced 33% from 2008 to 2011. During the first half of this year, security specialist Freightwatch counted 14 thefts versus 25 during the same period last year.

- get more from Securing Pharma

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