Arrests Made in Major Pharmaceutical Theft Heist

Federal authorities say they’ve cracked a major pharmaceutical theft ring that reaches all the way to Enfield. 

The ring allegedly included two brothers who were arrested in connection with the theft of 80-million dollars in prescription drugs from an Enfield, Connecticut warehouse two years ago. 

U.S. Attorney David Fein made the announcement Thursday afternoon in New Haven, “Here in Connecticut, two brothers, Amaury and Amed Villa have been charged with participating in the theft of pharmaceuticals from the Enfield Warehouse,” says Fein. 

The theft occurred on March 14, 2010. 

Thieves gained access to pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly’s Enfield warehouse by cutting a hole through its roof and disabling the alarm system. 

They scaled the outside wall of the warehouse and descended inside on ropes that were hung from a hole in the roof. 

Thieves loaded pallets of expensive anti-depressant drugs onto at least one tractor trailer truck and drove away. 

Besides announcing the arrests, authorities said that the stolen drugs have been recovered,”On October 14, 2011, a search of a storage facility in Doral, Florida revealed the approximately 80-million dollars in pharmaceuticals that had been stolen from the Enfield warehouse,” says David Fein. 

The drugs were believed to have been headed for the black market, perhaps overseas. 

They included anti-depressants Prozac and Cymbalta, in addition to the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa. 

The arrests followed an intensive investigation that included a combined law enforcement effort according to Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza,”I think this shows that when federal and local law enforcement work as well as we do here in Connecticut, you get good results,” says Sferrazza. 

In all, 11 people are charged in connection with the pharmaceutical theft ring that targeted warehouses across the country. 

Pharmaceutical unit sealed FIA arrests three drug makers

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Monday arrested three owners of as many companies for manufacturing drugs that allegedly caused the death of 63 cardiac patients registered with the Punjab Institute of Cardiology.The FIA has taken the action against the ‘will’ of the Punjab government. “Seeing the non-seriousness of the provincial government to lay hands on the people responsible for the deaths, the federal government directed the FIA to go for a direct action,” a senior official of the agency told Dawn.He said the agency would also expose negligent and corrupt provincial government officials, including doctors and drug inspectors.According to FIA spokesman Haroon Rashid, Tahir Agha of Mega Pharma, Wasim Chaudhry of Alfalah Pharma and Chaudhry Nadir Khan of Pharma-wise, have been arrested and a case under section 23/27 of Drug Act 1976 has been registered against them.He said the FIA initiated the probe on the direction of interior ministry. “Action will also be initiated against the provincial drug inspectors and officials of the drug testing laboratories,” he said.Meanwhile, PML-Q central information secretary Kamil Ali Agha said in a statement that Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif holding the portfolio of health was responsible for the deaths. He said Mr Sharif had failed to form a team in four years to deal with the
health issues in the province. Mr Agha said first the chief minister was exposed in dengue epidemic and now the deaths owing to free suspected drugs reaction was another “feather” in his (Sharif) cap.Earlier, the Drug Testing Laboratory (DTL) of the Punjab government on Monday sealed a factory of a local pharmaceutical company — Mega Pharma — after analysis of a medicine – Cardiovestin — and declared it spurious.Meanwhile, the Federal Investigating Agency (FIA) launched on Monday a probe and directed the Punjab Institute of Cardiology administration to provide the agency with some information about the incident of drugs reaction to cardiac patients.The PIC authorities were directed to provide the FIA with pathological analysis of the suspected drugs, reports on clinical investigation relating to the patients and number of casualties took place so far owing to the use of the medicines.A source said Cardiovestin declared spurious by DTL was among those four medicines which had been kept under observation, including Alfagril, Concort and Soloprin, on the complaints of patients and consultants of various hospitals.These medicines were supplied to the PIC last month for distribution among the registered poor patients suffering from multiple cardiac diseases.According to a source, the DTL analysed 20mg Cardiovestin and allegedly detected a certain quantity of substandard substance.However, some experts were of the view that the DTL had no authority to declare any medicine substandard.“The DTL can only examine bio availability of the salt, efficacy of the salt and expiry of the salt of any medicine,” an expert told this reporter requesting anonymity. He said the DTL had no mandate to intervene in the process of the manufacturing of
medicines at any cost. Samples of the suspected drugs should be either pathologically analysed at the PCSIR laboratory or from abroad.The PIC has been distributing a combination of the four medicines among its registered cardiac patients for the last three weeks or so.Later, a good number of these patients were hospitalised owing to the reaction of the suspected drugs.