$800,000 shipment of OxyContin pills missing in New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) _ A shipment of a powerful prescription painkiller is missing, and the air freight courier says the shipment could have been lost or stolen. <br><br>Nine cases of OxyContin, valued at

Saturday, December 22nd 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) _ A shipment of a powerful prescription painkiller is missing, and the air freight courier says the shipment could have been lost or stolen.

Nine cases of OxyContin, valued at about $800,000, were to be shipped to a company in southern New Jersey Thursday, said Emery spokesman James Allen. The drugs never arrived.

``We move a lot of boxes and unfortunately sometimes they get lost,'' Allen said.

Allen said the company had notified police and was interviewing employees to try to find out what happened to the shipment.

It was unclear how many pills were in the shipment.

OxyContin is a slow-release narcotic painkiller. One pill is designed to last 12 hours, but abusers crush OxyContin and snort or inject it, producing a quick, heroin-like high.