OXY-CONTIN INVESTIGATION NETS 29 MIAMI-DADE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES

The U.S. Attorney's office in Miami today announced that a joint investigation by Miami-Dade police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement has resulted in the arrest of 29 employees of the Miami-Dade School District for participating in a scheme to sell the painkiller OxyContin on the street.

Among those taken into custody were school bus drivers and bus attendants, custodians, a cook and a cashier only days before the school district begins classes on Monday. U.S. Attorney R. Alexander Acosta (bio is from his tenure as Assistant Attorney General) says that there is no evidence that teachers or students were involved in the scheme.

District spokesman Joseph Garcia said officials learned of the nearly two year investigation and arrests earlier today, and that disciplinary action is expected to begin immediately against those allegedly involved.

According to the Miami Herald's story:

The school employees were recruited to go to a doctor and use their name and insurance to purchase prescriptions for OxyContin. The doctor was on the take.
The employees then sold the prescriptions to a contact, who then resold the tablets to a street dealer. The tablets were sold on the street for as much as $80 apiece.

OxyContin is legal if prescribed for treatment of chronic pain.

It will be interesting to see if our fellow blogger Mustang Bobby at Bark Bark Woof Woof will have a take on this story, as he works in the Miami-Dade school district.