DEA Arrests 290, Closes Dozens of Pharmacies in Opioid Crackdown

Two-hundred and ninety people were arrested and dozens of pharmacies shut down by Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents in Florida this past week.

Reports said the DEA also seized $3.3 million in assets which included a yacht and a small airplane as part of an operation called “Operation Cazador.”

“Agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration also confiscated more than 600 pounds of heroin and opioids as well as more than 35 weapons,” According to the Daily Mail.

Agents arrested a pharmacist in Ormond Beach accused of selling illegal substances whose license had previously been revoked. Reports said she was facing charges of the same kind when she reopened her pharmacy to begin selling again.

Justin Miller, chief intelligence agent in the DEA’s Miami office, said the agency is trying to stop the problem and clean up their community, according to an NBC News report.

“We’re out there and we’re trying to get ahead of this problem, trying to reduce fatalities in our communities,” he said.

The report stated:

The takedown targeted physicians and pharmacists who, in the eyes of law enforcement officials, have worsened the overdose crisis. In central Florida, for example, DEA agents arrested the manager of a convenience store who has been charged for selling heroin and cocaine tied to multiple overdose deaths.

In July, Breitbart News reported that drugmakers and distributors had dispensed over 76 billion pills to commercial pharmacies over the last seven years.

“In 2012, 12.6 billion of those same pills were dispensed to pharmacies. Three generic drug manufacturers accounted for nearly 90 percent of opioid sales, including oxycodone and hydrocodone, which are then shipped to big-name pharmacies,” the report said.

However, President Trump said in April that he would never stop working toward finding a solution to the nation’s opioid crisis.

“We will not let up, we will not give in and we will never ever give up on saving American lives,” the president said. “We will end this terrible menace. We will smash the grip of addiction.”