Why Securing Pharma Freight Starts With Broker and Carrier SOPs

Tariff pressure on global economies and tighter traceability under the Drug Supply Chain Security Act are changing what happens to pharmaceutical loads after they are stolen, according to Kerem Tokel, logistics manager at Octapharma USA. Rather than being resold domestically, more stolen product is now leaving the country.

“Loads that normally or previously would've been stolen and resold in the United States, we're seeing them actually exported to countries that don't have as strong controls with their pharmaceutical supply chains,” Tokel says.

Speaking with Pharmaceutical Commerce at LogiPharma USA 2026, where he joined the keynote panel “Securing the Pharma Freight Network: Tools, Threats & Tactics for 2026,” Tokel says the lanes drawing the most scrutiny are the I-90 corridor, Memphis and southern Tennessee, and Southern California.

Industry data point to an increasingly organized threat. BSI tracked 166 pharmaceutical cargo theft incidents worldwide from 2024 through the first half of 2026, 78% of them in North and South America, and found that criminal groups are increasingly targeting GLP-1s and specialty medicines through hijackings, trailer thefts and fictitious pickups.¹

That trust gap is where Tokel focuses his chain-of-custody approach. “It's all about the human relationships,” he says, explaining that brokers and carriers should operate under SOPs aligned with the shipper's security requirements. Exceptions, he added, need to be “handled immediately, not taking anything for granted and following up on any discrepancies that might pop up.”

Reference

1. BSI. Global Pharmaceutical Cargo Theft: Trends, Risks, and Outlook. Accessed Oct. 9, 2026. https://www.bsigroup.com/en-US/insights-and-media/insights/whitepapers/global-pharmaceutical-cargo-theft-trends-risks-and-outlook/