42 people in Little Rock indicted in “the largest pharmacy burglary case in DEA history”

On Thursday, state officials said that a multi-state burglary ring investigation has led to 42 people being indicted in Little Rock.The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas Jonathan Ross said the 42 people being indicted were involved in the “coast to coast” ring that burglarized narcotics with a $12 million street value from rural pharmacies. According to Ross, the group stole from 200 pharmacies across 31 states. 20 of those pharmacies were located right here in Arkansas.

Federal prosecutors said 24 people were arrested in Houston in July, and some appeared in federal court in Little Rock on Thursday on conspiracy to possess controlled substances with intent to distribute charges. The charges were part of a new indictment that began with 18 people from the Houston area being charged in November.

Ross says that during the arrests, authorities were able to seize 11 firearms, $510,000 in custom jewelry and $79,000 in cash.

According to authorities, the group scouted independent rural pharmacies via the internet. Once they had their target, the group would break in at night and low-crawl on the floor to avoid motion detectors. The group targeted narcotics for theft including oxycodone, hydrocodone, alprazolam, Xanax, Adderall, and cough syrup with codeine, Ross said.

Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agent in Charge Steven Hofer said the indictments resulted from the largest pharmacy burglary case in DEA history.

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