Half-million worth of feminine products stolen

Conway Police Department investigators are tracking down leads in the theft of two 53-foot shipping containers belonging to Kimberly Clark, according to Conway Chief of Police A. J. Gary, and “it will be very interesting when they get to the bottom of it.”

According to a police report, officers were told by a representative of Exel Logistics at 1475 William J. Clark Drive that at some point between 2 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, someone cut a lock and entered the property. The thief or thieves broke into seven trailer containers, removing the seals that secure them in the process, eventually stealing two of them and leaving behind a seal that didn’t seem to belong on any of Exel’s containers.

Inside the containers, according to the report, were 9,064 cases of Kotex- and Poise-brand feminine hygiene products of every description, 152 cases of Huggies Soft Skin baby wash and 380 cases of baby wipes — each case containing 10 to 20 individual consumer packages. The total value of the containers and their contents is listed in the report at over $474,000.

Gary said the thief or thieves may have been after only the containers and trailers, as their contents wouldn’t seem to be easily marketable through illegal means.

“It isn’t like a trailer load of flatscreen TVs,” he said.

Given the weight of the trailers, containers and their contents, it’s inconceivable that regular pickup trucks could have been used to pull them away, Gary said, and so the thieves must have used at least one — and more likely two — semi-tractors in the theft.

The containers are those commonly seen on the decks of container ships. One may be marked with the Wabash National brand, the other with the SINC brand. The trailers on which the boxes were mounted were orange in color, both carrying Oklahoma trailer plates, and are the property of J.B. Hunt Transport Services.

One of the trucks or trailers may have sustained some damage from striking the gate on its way out, according to the report. Anyone with information pertaining to this theft — or any other — is urged to contact CPD at 450-6120.

(Staff writer Joe Lamb can be reached at 505-1238 or by E-mail at joe.lamb@thecabin.net. Send us your news at www.thecabin.net/submit.)