The Drug Enforcement Agency has charged 42 people in connection with a sweeping pharmacy burglary scheme across the United States.
It is the "largest case involving pharmacy burglaries in DEA history," U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross said in a Justice Department press briefing.
For 21 months, the DEA investigated a string of about 200 pharmacy burglaries spanning 31 states, according to an Aug. 29 news release from the agency. Investigators said they uncovered a drug trafficking organization based in Houston.
In the investigation's first phase, seven people were charged with stealing pharmaceuticals worth more than $1.5 million from more than 20 pharmacies. The total is now estimated at $12 million, Mr. Ross said.
The scheme mainly targeted oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam, and promethazine with codeine cough syrup, according to the DEA.
The agency did not specify the timeline of these burglaries, but nearly 900 were reported to the DEA in 2023, and the 42 people were charged between November 2023 and July 2024.
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