The FBI last week made arrests in what it said was “the largest takedown in U.S. history involving cargo theft.”
Eleven people were indicted.
John V. Gillies, special agent in charge for FBI Miami, said the theft involved more than $100 million, including $80 million worth of pharmaceuticals and “dealt a major blow to this Miami-based criminal organization.”
Operation Southern Hospitality, as the investigation was dubbed, targeted individuals involved in the sale and distribution of goods stolen from warehouses and tractor-trailers across the United States.
These included drugs taken from an Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut in March 2010, in what has been described as the largest pharmaceutical theft in the country. More than $75 million worth of medications were stolen.
Other thefts of drugs allegedly took place at truckstops in Pennsylvania, Ohio Tennessee and from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in Virginia. The thieves also allegedly stole 3,500 cases of cigarettes valued at $8 million from an Illinois warehouse.
Other agencies involved in the arrests included the Drug Enforcement Agency; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Miami-Dade Police Department and Florida Highway Patrol.
Additional details are here. – Chris Dupin
FBI says 11 indicted in biggest cargo bust ever
