Ozempic gang: pharmacy owner arrested on suspicion of buying stolen medicines

A pharmacy owner was arrested on suspicion of storing and selling high-cost and irregularly controlled medicines in the early hours of Wednesday (17), in Guaianases, in the east zone of São Paulo. The suspicion is that the detainee acquired the medicines, including the weight loss medication Ozempic, from gangs involved in attacks on drugstores.

The arrest occurred after police officers from the State Department of Criminal Investigations (Deic) received information about a pharmacy that was receiving stolen or stolen high-value medications and displaying the medications for sale in an inappropriate manner.

According to the police, the medication boxes were on a counter in the establishment's kitchen, with no care taken regarding the storage temperature, the place was dirty and full of rubbish. The police collected boxes of the medicines Rivotril, Ozempic, Venvanse, Sustanon and Ritalin.

A wide range of products were seized at the scene, including weight loss, hormonal and psychotropic medications. The man admitted that he bought all the merchandise without documentation of origin and sold them without a prescription.

The arrest is part of a Deic action that investigates gangs specialized in breaking into drugstores and stealing high-cost medicines. In the first stage, the team dismantled the main operators of the scheme in terms of attacks and now the objective is to identify the recipients.

The owner of the pharmacy was charged with crimes against public health for supplying a medicinal substance not in accordance with a medical prescription and selling it, displaying it for sale, having it in storage for sale and delivering an altered substance for consumption.