A former pharmacy technician employed at a retail pharmacy in Carlsbad, New Mexico, from May 2012 through April 2015 was charged federally in September 2016 with stealing prescription opioid painkillers. According to the criminal complaint, the technician allegedly stole approximately 20,344 oxycodone tablets of various strengths during the period of employment. The complaint's allegations were not admissions.
The investigation was initiated after the DEA received a report of theft or loss of controlled substances from the pharmacy. The DEA's Tactical Diversion Squad worked the case with the Pecos Valley Drug Task Force, which draws officers from the Eddy County Sheriff's Office and the Carlsbad and Artesia police departments. The technician was arrested on September 23, 2016.
On December 20, 2016, the defendant pleaded guilty in federal court in Las Cruces to the misdemeanor offense of unlawfully possessing a controlled substance. In entering the plea, the defendant admitted to having been employed as a pharmacy technician at the Carlsbad pharmacy from May 2012 through April 2015.
The case was prosecuted under the New Mexico Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative, a partnership launched in January 2015 by the UNM Health Sciences Center and the U.S. Attorney's Office to reduce opioid-related deaths in the state. The pharmacy's own theft-or-loss report to the DEA was the trigger that brought the case to law enforcement.