'We feel like our system was hijacked': DEA agents say a huge opioid case ended in a whimper

https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/60-minutes-washington-post-investigate-deas-biggest-opioid-case/

basically The team, based out of the DEA's Denver field division, had been examining the operations of the nation's largest drug company, McKesson Corp. By 2014, investigators said they could show that the company had failed to report suspicious orders involving millions of highly addictive painkillers sent to drugstores from Sacramento, Calif., to Lakeland, Fla. Some of those went to corrupt pharmacies that supplied drug rings.

The investigators were ready to come down hard on the fifth-largest public corporation in America, according to a joint investigation by The Washington Post and "60 Minutes."

Then they couldnt take them to court for opoids overdose/misreporting. what was gonna be a 1 billion dollar fine, became $150 million and noone was charged "This is the best case we've ever had against a major distributor in the history of the Drug Enforcement Administration," said Schiller, who recently retired as assistant special agent in charge of DEA's Denver field division after a 30-year career with the agency. "I said, 'How do we not go after the number one organization?' "

But it didn't work out that way.

Instead, top attorneys at the DEA and the Justice Department struck a deal earlier this year with the corporation and its powerful lawyers, an agreement that was far more lenient than the field division wanted, according to interviews and internal government documents. Although the agents and investigators said they had plenty of evidence and wanted criminal charges, they were unable to convince the U.S. attorney in Denver that they had enough to bring a case.

Discussions about charges never became part of the negotiations between the government lawyers in Washington and the company. None of McKesson's warehouses would lose their DEA registrations. The company, a second-time offender, had promised in 2008 to be more diligent about the diversion of its pills to the street. It ultimately agreed to temporarily suspend controlled substance shipments at four distribution centers and pay a $150 million fine. Instead of the 1 billion fine they were hoping for

In all, the DEA would pursue administrative cases involving 12 McKesson distribution centers. A DEA memo outlined the investigative findings:

●"Supplied controlled substances in support of criminal diversion activities."

●"Ignored blatant diversion."

●"Pattern of raising thresholds arbitrarily."

●"Failed to review orders for suspicious activity."

●"Ignored own procedures designed to prevent diversion."

In addition to Aurora, investigators found that McKesson warehouses in Livonia, Mich., and Washington Court House, Ohio, were supplying pharmacies that sold to criminal drug rings, according to internal government documents obtained by The Post and "60 Minutes."

As they were working on the administrative cases, Schiller and Joseph T. Rannazzisi, who led the DEA's diversion office during part of the McKesson case, said investigators also were compiling information in preparation for a potential criminal case against the corporation for knowingly supplying the corrupt pharmacies.

In the summer of 2015, "on two occasions, I was briefed by my staff, and talked to the Denver field division, and they believed they had more than enough to go after the corporation criminally," said Rannazzisi, who now works as a consultant to lawyers suing drug companies.


Comments


[99 Points] pauz43:

If there was ever a good argument for legalizing narcotics like alcohol, this is it! Let users buy whatever they want as long as they're old enough to purchase alcohol, and see how fast the drug "problem" in the US disappears! Like we've seen in Portugal, a certain percentage of users will overdose and die within a short period of time. After that, recreational users will monitor their own use. Chronic pain patients' consumption will level off when they find relief. And the same percentage of underage kids will experiment with drugs in the same way they've always experimented with alcohol.

But rehab clinics will see a significant decrease in their bottom line as users aren't forced off opiates against their will. Law enforcement won't get the benefits of huge tax increases and the latest in military hardware more appropriate to a hostile war zone than American neighborhoods. Big Pharma will be taxed in the same way distilleries and breweries are. And politicians will have to find another topic they can beat their drums over.


[29 Points] niktemadur:

"We will stop at nothing to fight the good Christian war on drugs!"
"Our case leads directly to one of the most powerful pharmaceutical corporations in the United States."
"Well... let's not get too carried away there, fellas. We wouldn't want to inconvenience good, decent (republican rich) Americans, now would we?"


[21 Points] MLP_is_my_OPSEC:

Although the agents and investigators said they had plenty of evidence and wanted criminal charges, they were unable to convince the U.S. attorney in Denver that they had enough to bring a case.

Sounds like someone was paid off.


[10 Points] Eyedeafan88:

Poor DEA got played. Poor babies. Jeesh let's not cry for an organization that seems to imprison us.


[6 Points] Getitintoday:

You can get away with drug dealing when you have high powered attorneys and bottomless pockets. But if you are poor you are royally fucked.


[4 Points] brewmastermonk:

Do those two Canadian billionaires that just died have anything to do with this company?


[4 Points] hhayn:

These guys were heads of various DEA field offices who vastly miscalculated their authority when it comes to indicting a large pharmaceutical company. If the head of DEA tried to pursue, it would only be on an order from above, or he would be out of job the next day. When your company employs 70,000 skilled and educated people in a STEM industry (which is what America will continue to rely on more and more), the problem becomes a bit more nuanced. You employ a lot of people, finance and perform a lot of research, make a lot of money and you’re not tied to America. You can pack up your labs relatively easily and go back to work headquartered in a friendlier country (compared to say Walmart or Exxon). We don’t want that, so it almost becomes an issue of national security. Afterall, other companies are watching and one overstep could have unintended consequences. It should have been obvious that going after a huge company like this in the way they wanted is something that completely transcends the scope of authority of some two-bit DEA dickheads who don’t even work in Washington.


[2 Points] BlackieBelt:

Haha FUCK USA, FUCK FBI, FUCK DEA, FUCK CIA, FUCK TRUMP..Y'all yanks are some pompous assholes..


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[2 Points] DinglebellRock:

But Sessions is going to reopen the investigation and go after Hezbollah backed drug trafficking because money and bribery matter right McKesson corp?


[1 Points] Pylyp23:

Excellent edit man. I read that wall of text earlier haha.


[1 Points] Dr_Zhivago_:

Remember the huge, and kinda still huge push towards fining tobacco companies, proofs of cancer and whatnot...? Have any tobacco companies disappeared? Even with the new labels on cartridges...Big pharma makes Uncle Sam a shit ton of $$$ and their deep pocketed lobbyist... Everything they (gov) do will and will always be symbolic... these medications aren’t going anywhere...this case is proof of money’s power...


[1 Points] drimilr:

Weird i posted this last week and like 2 people commented on it


[0 Points] fourbromo:

TL;DR?


[0 Points] boofme:

crowd control the government likes people being addicted to illegal drugs


[0 Points] Shouting__Ant:

Ha ha!


[-5 Points] michaelobama666:

Thanks zionism! keep taking down those low level drug operators and give them hard time while you keep pushing that smack (which means smell in yiddish)