(StraightShooterNews.com) – U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross from the Eastern District of Arkansas revealed a massive breakthrough in what the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) identifies as the biggest pharmacy burglary operation they have ever tackled.
“An indictment of 42 defendants who worked together to burglarize over 200 pharmacies, across 31 states, including more than 11 pharmacies located right here in the Eastern District of Arkansas,” Ross shared.
Ross mentioned that the initial announcement back in December covered the pharmacy thefts in Arkansas, orchestrated by a group from Houston, Texas.
The case has now expanded from 20 pharmacies in Arkansas to more than 200 across an additional 30 states.
“As we know, the opioid epidemic is still with us, 107,543 Americans died from drug overdose in 2023, of which 81,083 were due to opioids,” Ross lamented.
“Theft and illegal distribution of prescription, opioid, and other scheduled medications, fuels the addiction and overdose crisis throughout the United States,” he explained.
This kind of illegal activity nets millions for criminal groups and increases dangerous activities in our communities.
Ross elaborated, “This case involves an organized crime ring from the Houston, Texas, area, that targeted independent, non-chain pharmacies throughout the United States for theft of opioid medication such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, other prescription drugs such as Xanax and Adderall, promethazine with codeine cough syrup.”
Ross pointed out that the criminals planned their raids using the Internet to identify small-town pharmacies and then traveled there using rental cars or flights to execute the thefts.
“As a result, hundreds of thousands of pills and gallons of promethazine cough syrup were returned and distributed on the streets of Houston, Texas,” he stated.
“The street value of the controlled substances stolen in the burglaries is estimated at this time to be $12 million,” Ross said.
On November 28, 2023, the Little Rock DEA and other law enforcement groups in Houston arrested 18 members of this gang.
On July 2, 2024, another 24 were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Most of these defendants were recently in court in Little Rock and the rest will have their court appearances in September.
“During the arrest operations in Houston, law enforcement seized 11 firearms, approximately $79,000 in U.S currency, and custom jewelry retailed at approximately $510,000, which are proceeds from the sale of stolen pharmaceutical drugs,” Ross concluded.
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