Perrigo loses $400K in drug shipment theft

It's turning out that March was a good month for drug heists. A $400,000 truckload of Perrigo medications was swiped near Dallas early in the month, preceding by about two weeks Eli Lilly's headline-grabbing, through-the-roof warehouse theft of $75 million in cancer, depression and blood-thinning drugs.

In the Dallas case, the shipment from Michigan included hair-growth and smoking-cessation treatments, as well as OTC vitamins and nutritional supplements. The driver was en route to a grocery warehouse in San Marcos, TX. He pulled into a rest stop, showered, and--voila!--the truck vanished.

FreightWatch International says a dozen pharmaceutical cargo thefts have been logged so far this year across the country. That places the theft rate about on par with the 46 thefts in 2009 and the 46 in 2008. That's a big jump from 2006 total of 11.

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