Backwards Smuggling: 15 Arrested for Pushing Drugs from Cali into Mexico
Typical smuggling cases involve the illegal movement of drugs INTO the United States. Not in this case. Dr. Tyron Reece, a 71-year-old general practitioner in Inglewood, was arrested earlier this week for conspiracy to smuggle prescription drugs from California to Mexico.
This seemingly backwards operation prompted a 17-month investigation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Bureau of Narcotic Enforcement, a division of the California Department of Justice, began the search when a pharmacist at a major chain in Oceanside, a San Diego suburb, reported a suspicious prescription from an employee.
The unusual operation sent a flood of opiates to Tijuana pharmacies in exchange for bundles of cash that were brought back into the U.S. American addicts were able to buy the pills over the counter on jaunts across the border from San Diego, investigators told The Associated Press.
“It was like a puzzle,” said Chris Raagas, a state investigator. “We’d get a tidbit here, a tidbit there.”
Officials say that this case marks the first uncovered drug ring smuggling drugs into Mexico. Along with Dr. Reece, 14 other suspects were detained.
Authorities speculated it was easier for smugglers to unload large batches of pills at loosely regulated Mexican pharmacies than to distribute them in small amounts to American street dealers.They said it’s also profitable: A smuggler who buys a pill for about $2 in the United States can sell it to a Mexican pharmacy for about $3.50, and the American addict pays about $6 to bring it back home.
Reece's hands must be fatigued, as he penned prescriptions for 920,000 hydrocodone pills, aka Vicodin and Lortab, last year.
The drug organization's ringleader, Anthony "Sam" Wright, reportedly earned $1,000 daily to drive rental cars to L.A. from a distant suburb to deliver the pills to couriers living in San Diego. Smugglers either strapped pills to their bodies or hid them in engine compartments before crossing the border, usually at night. A man was taken into custody after caught walking across with approximately 4,000 hydrocodone tablets tied to his leg and waist.
One woman got extra crafty in her smuggling process. Arrested at the scene, she was found walking across the border around 3am with 8,200 hydrocodone pills stuffed into two juice boxes.
Reece plus seven other suspects were charged in federal court in San Diego with conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance.
