Medicine Cargo Drivers Vanished with Cargo in Russia
Two men, driving two separate cargo trucks of medication disappeared on March 13th in Russia, as did their trucks and the cargo within them, after crossing the Russian border from Finland.
The two men, aged 60 and 25, disappeared on March 13. Subsequently, the two trucks they were driving were found without license plates, empty of contents around St. Petersburg, Russia, reports SecuringPharma.
The drivers work for a Dutch logistics company and were expected to deliver their shipments in Zelenograd, Russia on March 14th. When they did not arrive, the alarm was raised by the pharmaceutical company.
On March 17th, after four days unaccounted for, they were found unharmed in Russia. The men are currently being questioned by the police.
Said Chuck Forsaith of the Pharmaceutical Cargo Security Coalition, “We can’t say much more as this is an active, international, police investigation.”
Security specialist Freightwatch has said that Russia has become a hub of cargo thefts in Europe, with concentrations in Moscow, Novosibirsk and Saint Petersburg.
These hijackings are often done by armed criminals disguised as police, and in a report published in 2009 by Eurowatch, virtually every listed cargo theft incident in the country involved the use of automatic weapons, reports SecuringPharma.