Four individuals from the Atlanta area were arrested in Coffee County recently following an investigation into prescription forgeries at the Douglas Wal-Mart.
Coffee County sheriff’s authorities reported the Douglas-Coffee Drug Unit (DCDU) was contacted by an agent from the Georgia Bureau of Drugs and Narcotics on Aug. 23, who stated his agency had previously contacted Coffee County 911 about an attempted prescription forgery in progress at the Douglas Wal- Mart Store. The agent also stated it was believed the Douglas Police Department had stopped the alleged perpetrators at a location on East Baker Highway.
DCDU agents responded to East Baker Highway and met with officers of the Douglas Police Department’s Patrol Division. The Douglas officers explained they had received a lookout on possible prescription forgery suspects and stopped a vehicle that had persons inside that met the descriptions of the alleged offenders.
They also stated they had performed a consent search of the vehicle and located what appeared to be seveal bogus prescriptions for codeine cough syrup. Agents confiscated the prescriptions and detained the vehicle occupants for questioning.
Over the next ten days, agents examined video tape from several different pharmacy locations in Douglas and were also able to make contact with the noted prescriber’s office, who confirmed the prescriptions were not valid.
Officials added this has been an ongoing issue in other jurisdictions as far west as Albany and as far east as Waycross, but did not state whether or not the individuals arrested in the Douglas incident were suspected to be involved.
Douglas Police Chief Gary Casteloes stated he was not surprised by the cooperative efforts of the Douglas Police Department and the DCDU.
“They are interdependent in many ways,” Casteloes said. “It was just great to see pre-planned strategies executed well by all the investigating officers.”
Sheriff Doyle Wooten also commented he was happy to see law enforcement entities work so well together for a common goal.
He stated, “The DCDU will continue to investigate this case and assist other jurisdictions as may be necessary to complete their cases.”
Interim DCDU Commander Jack Cliett added, “There are definite leads in this case that lead us to believe that we were not just picked at random in our jurisdiction for victimization, but that we were on a list working in a geographic direction. For now,we have suspects charged in our jurisdiction. We will continue to work with the Georgia Bureau of Drugs and Narcotics to see what, if any, of our information will help close cases in other jurisdictions.”
Subject to the initial investigation, Kindre Beasley (20) of Atlanta, Clarence Lamont Murray Jr. (20) of McDonough, Leilani Oliveira (20) of McDonough, and Ariel Henderson (20) of McDonough were charged criminal attempt to obtain a controlled substance by forgery.
All suspects have since been released on bond.
