Palm Trees

Prescription Drug Thefts Increasing in United States

A police raid can produce a number of things, but not many would have believed millions of prescription drugs would be present in one home. According to an online Wall Street Journal report, the value found in the home of Servando Gomez reached nearly $10 million.

The Florida resident appeared to have hundreds of stolen cigarettes, razor blades and lotions. Authorities discovered prescription drugs, including treatments for heart and skin disorders, valued at nearly $10 million. The same products had been reported stolen from a tractor-trailer in Tennessee.

Gomez is accused of leading a crime ring focused on thefts of medicines and consumer goods. This ring is suspected of committing thefts as far away as Texas and California. Such rings used to focus on laptops and fragrances, but are now lured to high-value painkillers, drugs for erectile dysfunction, antidepressants and other medications.

There has been a marked rise in the thefts of consumer goods in general, but prescription medications are increasingly popular targets as even small volumes can be worth quite a bit more than bulkier – and harder to steal – consumer goods.

"It's a growth industry and is becoming highly professionalized," said Katherine Eban in the Wall Street Journal. Eban is the author of "Dangerous Doses," a book about drug theft and counterfeiting in the United States. "This isn't two-bit addicts leaping over pharmacy counters."

While the find in Gomez’ house was certainly substantial, it pales in comparison to the theft of $75 million worth of antidepressants and other pills from an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse in Connecticut.

In the United States last year alone, $184 million worth of prescription drugs were stolen, a 350 percent increase from 2007. This figure was captured by the U.S. division of supply-chain security consultant, FreightWatch International.