Solving the Eli Lilly Drug Theft

It turned out be the largest theft of prescription drugs in United States history, as described by the authorities, and it was intricately orchestrated and meticulously executed. The late-night operation lasted five hours, with the thieves descending into an Eli Lilly warehouse in Enfield, Conn., cutting a hole in the roof of the warehouse and lowering themselves with ropes after compromising the alarm system. Over the next five hours, they used a forklift inside the warehouse to load the drugs into a tractor-trailer and made off with approximately $80 million worth of prescription drugs, which were loaded into a truck and eventually driven to Florida.

The theft made national news and Eli Lilly quickly organized an internal effort to improve their processes and procedures around cargo and warehouse security says Bob Reilley, Chief Security Officer for Eli Lilly and Company. “My team immediately began working with our internal partners to include distribution and manufacturing united around our main priority, patient safety.”