Police Agencies Crack Down on Prescription Fraud

Several law enforcement agencies in the Sarasota area are participating in a crackdown of doctor shopping and pill pushers through a state initiative called "Operation Southwest Shopper." 

"Illegal prescription drug trafficking does not recognize jurisdictional boundaries, so fighting this form of crime effectively requires a cooperative and coordinated effort,” said Thomas M. Knight in a news release.  “As the results of this initiative clearly show, our efforts to combine forces is working.”

At the , Detective Vollmer's work resulted in seven warrants for a total of 65 counts of withholding information from a doctor, according to Capt. Paul Sutton.

In March 2011, Governor Scott announced a Statewide Drug Strike Force, headed by Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Gerald Bailey, to combat the criminal distribution of prescription drugs in Florida. With support from Attorney General Pam Bondi and state and local law enforcement leaders, the Strike Force is charged with stopping the flow of dangerous drugs into communities by disrupting the major illegal supply and distribution points.

On Jan. 25, the sheriff's office charged a Sarasota man for fraudulently obtaining a medicinal drug among other counts, at a Venice Pharmacy.

The sheriff's office charged Alejandro Leyva Reyes, 21, of 3959 Eton Place, Sarasota, with one count of obtaining a controlled substance by fraud, one count of trafficking in a controlled substance along with the medicinal drug count. 

Investigators with the sheriff's office Pharmaceutical Diversion Unit investigated claims that fraudulent prescriptions were passed under the name Dr. Jorge A. Laloma-Sanchez, but with the name and address for a fictitious clinic, the sheriff's office said. They found Reyes submitted two of these fraudulent prescriptions to a Venice pharmacy, obtaining 180 Roxicodone pills and 30 pills of Ibuprofen last September, the sheriff's office said.

Reyes, who has an extensive criminal history including Home Invasion Robbery with a Firearm, was out on bond for cocaine, marijuana and traffic-related arrests at the time of the crime. When he was arrested Saturday he also had an active warrant for Failure to Appear in Court for Driving with a Suspended License.

On Friday, the state also sentenced a Seminole County physician to 25 years in prison for prescription pull trafficking throughout western Florida. The sheriff's office said the operation by Dr. Jose Carlose Menendez-Campos originated in Sarasota County.

The sherrif's office, Sarasota Police Department and Osceola County Investigative Bureau's investigations revealed that Campos was selling prescriptions for large amounts of oxycodone, a powerful painkiller, to a group of associates who would then fill the prescriptions and distribute the narcotics on the streets of Sarasota. 

Campos must also pay a $500,000 fine and investigative and prosecutorial costs. Campos pled guilty in October 2011 to conspiring to traffic in 28 grams or more of oxycodone, and he was prosecuted by the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution.