Spotlight News 1/26/2015

Police in the Abruzzo region of Italy are searching for a group of thieves responsible for stealing $224,952 of pharmaceuticals from a warehouse near the city of L'Aquila. The warehouse is located near the A24 highway on Ettore Moschino street northwest of the city. The thieves entered the warehouse by manipulating the machine that opens the  gate and succeeded in dismantling the alarm system in the facility. Police believe the group may have taken multiple trips to steal all of the pharmaceuticals, as they left the warehouse nearly bare. Employees of the warehouse discovered the theft the next morning. The warehouse facility distributes pharmaceuticals to eight different pharmacies in the L'Aquila area. Authorities did not specify what type of pharmaceuticals were stolen.

Several areas in the northeastern United States and eastern Canada are preparing for a winter storm due to hit the region Monday and Tuesday. The storm is expected to bring heavy snowfall to Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Pennsylvania, with light precipitation in Washington, D.C. More than 1,900 flights have been cancelled for Monday, and another 1,800 are expected to be cancelled on Tuesday. The governor of Connecticut has issued a travel ban starting at 9 p.m. on Monday evening to allow for clean-up efforts. Business operations will be heavily impacted throughout Monday and Tuesday, with power outages and further delays likely throughout the week. Transportation in the affected region will take some time to return to normal levels.

Federal Highway Police officers in Corbélia, located in Parana, Brazil, seized a variety of electronics that were being smuggled from Paraguay in a cargo truck transporting 13 tonnes of flour. The electronics seized included video games, mobile phones, digital satellite TV receivers, electric shavers, radio communicators, and computer equipment as well as perfumes and toys. Officers arrested the driver of the cargo truck, who was already a wanted criminal for undisclosed charges.

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) announced that it is intensifying security measures at seaports in the country in an attempt to prevent unauthorized personnel from accessing the facilities. The NPA released few details about the new measures to be implemented other than indicating that officials will subject pedestrians trying to enter ports to multiple security checks, including checks on their photo identification and other credentials. An NPA official also indicated that the agency will no longer allow individuals to carry out unauthorized business activities within port premises, and it will be working to remove all "squatters" from facility grounds.