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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | |
| Feds say pharmacy burglary ring is largest in DEA history | |
| 2024-09-02 | |
| [JustTheNews] More than 40 people accused of running the largest pharmacy burglary stole approximately $12 million worth of controlled substances, according to an indictment. The bust is the largest in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration, according to the Department of Justice. Not counting the cartels of course. U.S. Attorney Jonathan D. Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas said Thursday the group of 42 people worked together to burglarize over 200 pharmacies across 31 states.
Ross said the group, based in Houston, Texas, targeted independent, non-chain pharmacies in rural locations and would drive rental cars or take flights to get there. Well funded from the start. Their pattern would be to go to their selected target locations in the early morning, break the glass and crawl on the floor to avoid motion detectors. Stolen medications included opioids like oxycodone and hydrocodone, along with other prescription drugs like Xanax, Adderall and promethazine, Ross said. “As a result, hundreds of thousands of pills and gallons of promethazine cough syrup were returned and distributed on the streets of Texas,” said Ross. The street value of the stolen medications is approximately $12 million, according to federal officials. “As we know, the opioid epidemic is still with us: 107,543 Americans died from drug overdoses in 2023, of which 81,083 were due to opioids,” Ross said. “Theft and illegal distribution of prescription opioid and other scheduled medications fuels the addiction and overdose crisis throughout the United States and theft and illegal distribution of prescription opioid and other scheduled medications result in millions of dollars in proceeds to pro-criminal organizations perpetuating dangerous criminal activity.” Previously, Ross’s office announced Phase 1 of Operation #RichoffMeds in December. At that point, 18 suspected members of the crime ring had been indicted for burglaries that took place in Arkansas. This week’s announcement comes after a superseding indictment was returned by an Arkansas grand jury, which charged 24 additional people in the conspiracy to distribute controlled substances for acts that occurred nationwide, Ross said. Law enforcement seized 11 firearms, around $79,000 in U.S. currency, and custom jewelry retailing at about $510,000 in Houston, which Ross said proceeds from the sale of pharmaceutical drugs. Most of the defendants appeared in a court in Little Rock Thursday afternoon. The remaining defendants will be in court in September. | |
| Posted by:Skidmark |
| #6 Re #2 the factories aren’t in the US - and frankly it’d be a softer target to hit the shipment between the factory and the shipping export point (vessel or aircraft). |
| Posted by: Gloluns Turkeyneck4904 2024-09-02 15:28 |
| #5 In other news…. Nobody wants a free vaccine |
| Posted by: Airandee 2024-09-02 11:31 |
| #4 targeted independent, non-chain pharmacies Self-audit processes, lax security, limited inventories. Somebody did their homework on these money laundries. |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-09-02 09:25 |
| #3 Arkansas State Police in 2023 saw a huge rise in illegal drug seizures due to traffic stops compared to previous years. In all, there were 138 significant seizures in 2023. ASP troopers seized more than 11,000 pounds of illegal drugs and $1.4 million from Arkansas highways in total. cocaine seizures showed a huge increase, with 353 pounds confiscated in 2023. The street value of the confiscated cocaine is more than $15 million. Those seizures represent a 146% increase from the 2022 seizure of 143.35 pounds of cocaine by ASP. The second-highest seizure of illegal marijuana was in December of 2023. Fentanyl seizures were down but still substantial with 65 pounds in 2022 compared to 46 pounds in 2023. |
| Posted by: Sligum Hupomoling9524 2024-09-02 09:16 |
| #2 Surprised, we haven't read of a drugmakers Factory being taken over and looted yet? |
| Posted by: NN2N1 2024-09-02 06:06 |
| #1 FBI: Enough Fentanyl to Kill 2.5 Million Americans Seized in South Carolina |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-09-01 09:47 |