Feds bust Palm Beach County drug ring
WEST PALM BEACH (AP) – Federal authorities broke up a Palm Beach County trafficking ring that piped more than 175,000 oxycodone tablets from South Florida pain clinics to the Appalachian Mountains. It was the largest such prescription drug-selling operation yet dismantled, according to federal court documents and three sources with knowledge of the investigation.
“Pills are becoming probably the number one problem in our area, and 99 percent of them are coming from Florida,” said one federal source, based in Tennessee, who spoke on condition of anonymity because she wasn’t authorized to talk about the case. “You guys in Florida are killing us up here.”
At least 20 people were indicted on drug selling charges in the alleged scheme, which spanned from January 2006 to Oct. 14 – including 10 people from Palm Beach County and two from Broward – according to court documents partially unsealed Thursday in West Palm Beach.