‘Wreaked havoc’: DEA investigating largest pharmaceutical drug ring in its history
'The street value of the controlled substances stolen in the burglaries is estimated at this time to be $12 million'
U.S. Attorney Jonathan Ross for the Eastern District of Arkansas announced Thursday the Drug Enforcement Administration is investigating the largest known pharmacy burglary ring in DEA history.
“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. Today’s announcement is the second public announcement about this case. In December, we announced phase one of operation #RichOffMeds,” Ross said.
Ross added the December announcement highlighted the robberies of pharmacies in Arkansas, carried out by defendants from the Houston, Texas, area. The investigation has now moved on to the second phase, which has expanded from 20 pharmacies in Arkansas, to now over 200 pharmacies across 30 additional 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. Theft and illegal distribution of prescription, opioid, and other scheduled medications, fuels the addiction and overdose crisis throughout the United States,” Ross said.
Theft and illegal distribution of opioid and other scheduled medications results in millions of dollars of proceeds to criminal organizations and escalates dangerous criminal activity.
“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 said.
Ross said the perpetrators used the internet to scout rural pharmacy locations, traveling by rental car or commercial airline to these locations to carry out the burglaries.
“As a result, hundreds of thousands of pills and gallons of promethazine cough syrup were returned and distributed on the streets of Houston, Texas. 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, along with other state and local law enforcement partners located in Houston, arrested 18 organization members who were charged in the initial indictment. On July 2, 2024, a further 24 perpetrators were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Most of these defendants appeared in the U.S. District Court in Little Rock Thursday, while the remaining defendants will appear in court 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 said.
Steven Hofer, special agent in charge of the New Orleans Field Division for the DEA, said the investigation spanned over three years, and the arrests marked a significant victory in stopping criminal drug trafficking networks.
“This criminal organization prioritized money and greed over the safety and well–being of the American people. Millions of Americans rely on their prescription medications every day, and when those drugs are not available, the well–being of our communities suffer. These criminal groups wreaked havoc in the local communities, to bring easy money into their organizations,” Hofer said.
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