The Ventura County Star reports that in 2015, law enforcement agencies had six pharmacy burglaries in Ventura County. The following year, these burglaries numbered 64, resulting in an average of more than five burglaries per month and leaving law enforcement officials scrambling for answers. Capt. Garo Kuredjian, of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, described the 58-burglary increase as a “statistically significant ” change in criminal behavior.
Detective Chip Buttell, of the Oxnard Police Department’s property crimes unit, said most of the burglaries had specific targets, such as opioid-based narcotics, with little variation. The burglars generally have not tried to take everything of value, such as computers or patient information, from a location, officials said.
“It was obvious the criminals were seeking high-priced drugs such as oxycodone,” said Mary Jarvis, a public affairs representative for Kaiser Permanente, whose Oxnard pharmacy was burglarized twice in 2016.
Thieves can potentially make hundreds of dollars from the illicit sale of such opioid drugs on the black market. “Typically, the opioid-based drugs are selling for about 50 cents per milligram,” Kuredjian said. “So it’s $7 to $18 for a 15-milligram pill and $15 to $36 for a 30-milligram pill.”
Indications of the spike began showing up early last year when the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office alerted the public to a string of burglaries in Thousand Oaks and Camarillo. Between January and March, six pharmacies had been burglarized, with the thieves forcing entry into small, independent pharmacies during non-operating hours. They primarily took opioid-based medications, then fled. As the year drew on, the county’s cities – large and small – were plagued by pharmacy break-ins.
In total for 2016, Ventura saw 14 break-ins and Camarillo had 12, while both Oxnard and Thousand Oaks finished the year with 10. Santa Paula reported five and Simi Valley had six pharmacy burglaries. Newbury Park saw two.
Law enforcement officials stressed that the problem is not confined to Ventura County. Regions such as Santa Barbara County, which was unaffected in 2015, reported multiple instances last year, according to the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office. Five pharmacy burglaries were reported in 2016, four in Santa Barbara and one in Montecito.
While law enforcement officials have noted the likely financial motive for the burglaries, there are challenges in alleviating the issue. Authorities are unsure precisely why Ventura County and other parts of Southern California have seen a sudden surge in incidents.
Most of the burglaries have occurred at smaller, independent pharmacies, not chain stores such as CVS or Rite Aid where traffic is higher and security is more prevalent. A Kaiser Permanente representative confirmed that measures had been taken at its Oxnard location to avoid further incidents, although specifics were not shared.
The decreased supply of legitimate drugs has increased the demand from illicit sources, according to authorities. Burglars are only too happy to fill the void left behind by a decline in prescriptions.