Ten pharmaceutical executives, sales representatives, and brokers have been charged in what’s reportedly the largest criminal enforcement of U.S. opioid distributors. A 59-year-old St. Louis man is one of the people who has pleaded guilty to being involved in the drug ring.
The drug bust uncovered the distribution of nearly 70 million opioid pills with a street value of $1.3 billion. The pills are worth $10 to $30 each.
Eric Bailey, of St. Louis, was one of the suppliers to the Texas drug ring. He pleaded guilty to supplying hydrocodone and oxycodone to Houston-area pharmacies where they were illegally distributed.
Kim Daniels, with the St. Louis Drug Enforcement Administration, said that Bailey was obligated to report suspicious orders and not fill them.
“Instead, he was supplying massive quantities of hydrocodone and oxycodone in the highest strengths available in exorbitant amounts,” she told KMOX Radio in St. Louis.
Daniels said these pharmacies would then supply the drugs to traffickers and Houston based pill mills. Pill mills resemble a medical practice but they inappropriately prescribe large amounts of opioid drugs without a sufficient medical reason.
Bailey drew attention from federal law enforcement for selling the pills at marked up prices.
“The only drugs they were ordering from EMED were hydrocodone and oxycodone in exorbitant amounts for many, many times what these pharmacies could pay at other wholesalers. Yes, Bailey should have known,” Daniels said.
The group is accused of “exploiting” the opioid crisis for profit, knowing that the drugs would end up on the black market, according to the head of the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
