The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Interdiction Unit stopped a car for following too closely Wednesday morning on I-80 north of Lincoln. Captain John Vik says during a search of the vehicle they found a variety of drugs.
“They seized THC products, large amounts of U.S. currency and multiple bags containing prescription drugs valued at over $840,000 in retail market value.” He says many of the prescription drugs drugs were used to treat HIV patients.
“These drugs are then re-packaged and sold as black market medications that become recirculated and dispensed by dealers and disreputable pharmacies. Vik says criminals profit from the schemes at the expense of vulnerable HIV patients who are deprived of access to safe and legitimate medications.
“Through our state and federal partners, we’ve learned that criminal organizations often acquire these drugs by way of healthcare fraud schemes such as purchasing from legitimate patients for a fraction of their worth or defrauding Medicare and Medicaid and sometimes private insurance companies.”
He says their task force investigators are working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to try and find the source and destination of the drugs. The sheriff’s office will not be releasing the identities of the people involved to avoid compromising the continuing investigation.
(Photo: Lancaster County Sheriff’s Department)