http://cptv.vo.llnwd.net/o2/ypmwebcontent/Chion/do%20120503%20pharma%20heist.mp3
Two men have been arrested and charged in a massive 2010 theft of pharmaceuticals from a warehouse in Enfield, Connecticut. Virtually all the drugs have been recovered.
Here’s how US Attorney David Fein characterizes the audacious heist:
"As far as we know, this brazen crime was the biggest theft in Connecticut history and in the history of the pharmaceutical industry countrywide."
Two brothers– Amaury and Amed Villa - have been arrested on federal conspiracy and theft charges related to their alleged participation in the March 2010 theft of approximately $80 million in pharmaceuticals from an Eli Lilly Company warehouse in Enfield. Both are Cuban citizens living in Miami.
Federal authorities say that the day before the heist, a particular combination of tools was purchased at a Home Dept in Flushing, NY. Again, Attorney Fein:
"Beginning sometime after 10:30pm on March 13th, individuals using the tools purchased at the Home Dept the day before, cut a hole in the roof of the Enfield warehouse and disabled parts of the facility’s security system. It is alleged that over the next five hours, Amed Villa and others used a forklift inside the warehouse to load many boxes of pharmaceuticals including Zyprexa, Prozac, and Gemzar into a tractor trailer truck."
The truck departed around 3:40 am on March 14th but Amed Villa left something behind.
"While he was in the warehouse, Amed Villa used a water bottle and left that empty bottle inside the warehouse after he departed."
In October 2011, as part of the investigation, a search of a storage facility in Doral, Florida revealed virtually all the drugs that had been stolen.
Eleven individuals, including Amaury Villa, have also been indicted in Florida. The investigation is ongoing.
