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Brothers Amed and Amaury Villa were charged in participating in what prosecutors are calling the largest-ever pharmaceutical drug heist. Their caper involved rappelling rope and loading 49 pallets of drugs as a torrential storm beat down.
Two Cuban brothers from Miami have been arrested in what investigators are calling the biggest pharmaceutical drug heist in U.S. history. They eluded law enforcement for two years after trucking out $80 million in drugs from a Connecticut warehouse in an elaborate scheme that involved scaling a wall and rappelling through the ceiling to disable an alarm system.
Amaury Villa, 37, and Amed Villa, 46, might have got away if not for a water bottle one of the brothers touched at the scene, U.S. Attorney David Fein said at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.
The brothers were arrested in Florida on Thursday, accused of helping to steal 49 pallets of Gemzar, a chemotherapy drug used to treat lung cancer; Zyprexa, a depressant and antipsychotic used to treat bipolar disorder; Prozac, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly's first billion-dollar drug and the company's top seller before it lost patent protection several years ago; and Cymbalta which is used to treat anxiety disorders.
"As far as we know, this brazen crime is the biggest theft in Connecticut history, and in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, countrywide," Fein said.
Read the original story at NBCConnecticut
The Villa brothers have been charged in other states as well. Amaury Villa is the lead defendant in a case involving 10 others in Florida, nabbed in an investigation dubbed Operation Southern Hospitality They are charged with possession and sale of drugs stolen from cargo at truck stops in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Tennessee. They are also charged with stealing drugs from a GlaxoSmithKline warehouse in Virginia, Fein said.
In a separate case in central Illinois, Amed Villa is accused of stealing and hauling 3,500 cases of cigarettes worth more than $8 million from a warehouse, federal officials said.
Detailing a narrative that could have been ripped from the big screen, federal officials say the Villa brothers staked out the Eli Lilly warehouse in January 2010.
Amaury Villa flew into LaGuardia Airport from Miami, rented a car and drove to Enfield, Conn., where he was caught on surveillance lurking about the Eli Lilly facility, Fein said. The next day, he returned to Miami.
In February 2010, one of Amaury Villa's associates received an e-mail with lease agreements for two tractor-trailers, Fein said.
A month later, in March, Amaury Villa flew back to New York and checked into a hotel in Windsor.
The heist took place during the night of March 13, 2010, as heavy rain and wind beat down on the region.
Authorities say the thieves cut through the ceiling and rappelled inside and disabled the alarms.
For five hours, Amed Villa and others used a forklift inside the facility to lift boxes and load them into a tractor-trailer, Fein said.
At 3:40 a.m., the charges allege, they left the facility, drugs in tow.
Despite the elaborate efforts to skirt security, Amed Villa touched a water bottle in the facility and left it there, federal authorities said.
Amaury Villa checked out of a hotel in Windsor that day, returning to Miami days later, Fein said.
Authorities were stumped for a year and a half, until October 2011, when they found about $80 million in pharmaceuticals in a storage facility in Doral, Fla. They had been stolen from Connecticut, Fein said.
A Florida indictment charges 11 people with possession and sale of narcotics, some of which were stolen in the Connecticut heist, federal officials said.
This article includes reporting by NBCConnecticut.com, The Associated Press and msnbc.com staff.
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Well if thaey are cuban nationals put their ass in a dingy and send them south from miami i'm sure raul misses them.
Agreed. Good point.
Right, these are the America-loving, patriotic Cuban refugees that constitute the Republican voter base in South Florida. Hang 'em high!
Elevated new meaning for America: "Land of Opportunity".....just take what you want.
And for those who make this political, the flip side of the "political coin" is they were both members of the Black Panthers supported by the Democratic Party and will not be taken to court by the DOJ.
This is a lesson for all crooks..wear gloves when robbing.
No kidding! Total amateurs. LOL
Good one Mike, made me laugh! But technically, could have been DNA and not a fingerprint on the water bottle... ;)
Anyway, this article is misleading. A combination of things led police to these criminals, not just the water bottle. Also included were: surveillance videos, documentation (rental cars, leases for the semi trucks, plane tickets, etc), and finally, the storage unit which contained the $80 million dollars of stuff that they never got rid of.
What I'd like to know is, why go to all the trouble of you're not even going to sell any of it?
Can't imagine there is a huge street market for Zyprexa.
bewu- i was also thinking that this was sort of an odd collection of drugs to steal... especially the prozac and cymbalta... generally anti-depressents and anti-anxiety drugs (except for the ones you use immediately to halt an impending panic attack) are not really something that can "f*ck you up" so to speak. I was totally expecting the article to say it was painkillers or amphetamines they were stealing.
Did you guys read the last part of the article? They had already sold the narcotics, it was probably full of Oxycontin they're not going to tell you everything.
This wasent a robbery , Its corporate Americas new executive training school . These guys were oh so close to being hall of fame students .
Death sentence would be fitting they gave the people waiting for their cancer drugs one
I agree. If they did know what they were stealing the deserve the death penalty for all those that would have died due to their I believe the term is depraved indifference. At least life.
According to the article, the meds were found sitting in a warehouse for a year and a half. Clearly, the brothers had no clue what they had or what to do with it. In the meantime, how many patients suffered needlessly while waiting for their medications??? Hopefully, patient suffering and endangerment and will play a part in their sentences.
or the CEO would be a better target ''lets hold on to med and rise the price or see if stock are at a point they we can make lot of cash then maybe we will let this new med out and see if it helps '' greed
Easy now, most things in CT are the "biggest ever" -- not much going on there. LOL That aside, these guys essentially stole nonsense drugs. Prozac, Zyprexa and Gemzar -- do they have a connection to depressed, psychotic folks with lung cancer? AAARRRGGGHHH!
xxxx
I lived in Miami for 10 years and was unable to meet a single, honest CUBAN.
They are shrewd business people, but they do things "third world" with payola and bribes.
Unfortunately the documented history of the corruption in South Florida proves my assertation.
I do not like to say things because it could be construed as bigotry, but facts underly my observations.
These drug thieves had some good mentors.
Spine Bob, not all Cubans are dishonest. I, for one am first generation born and raised in Miami. Mostly, I truly am embarrassed to say that I am of Cuban descent. Although there are some shady Cubans, I must say that it is the recent wave of new Cubans that make the original true exiles look like pussy cats.
They come here illegally. Stay as long as it takes to get their residency, apply for citizenship, get it and guess what... go back to Cuba! Some go back and forth constantly and even brag about it. I have principles, therefore I have never visited Cuba.
I was raised to embrace this country that we made home and to be a law abiding citizen. In my line of work, I have been offered lots of payola and bribes BUT I HAVE NOT SUCCUMB!
This city has deteriorated significantly and we will continue to see things like this happen until something is done about the easy immigration for these types of Cubans.
Spine Bob,
If while living in Miami for ten years you never met an honest Cuban, well, what was your line of work???
Sorry, I meant no disrespect, but it sounds hard to believe.
And DazyJane...
Your case IS embarrasing. I am SO proud of being CUBAN! I am proud of my history, of Martí and Maceo, of Cespedes and Agramonte. But your parents never taught you that, or you were not able to learn... I came to this country two years ago, a new exile...getting my master degree at the University of Texas, not bad for a new exile...maybe it is MIAMI that corrupts, I live in Texas, but if so, then I urge you to leave and find other place to live, but please do not judge a generation for the bevahior of two guys. If we all do the same, well, is there any perfect nation on earth, with no thugs, serial killers, rapists, and people embarrased of their ancestry???
No Anthonly my case IS NOT embarrassing. I am not embarrassed about MY HERITAGE. AND, BY THE WAY, I know all about IT. I had my education WAY before you. Do YOU know what heritage means?
Can YOU read? I'm embarrassed by what's coming here NOW. YOU are not the norm any more. I live in Miami and have lived here all my life (over 40 years!) and what is coming from Cuba NOW IS EMBARRASSING. I never insulted a generation because of two guys. I'm insulting a generation because of thousands of guys!
As far as my living here I don't plan to. When my son graduates, in the next two years, we are leaving. AND no, there is no nation without bad people but after what I've seen AND been offered dozens of times by the same group of people, you begin to see a pattern.
The difference between you and I is that I am not Cuban. I am of Cuban descent. I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. I have completely accepted MY country and respect it.
Oh and by the way, why don't you let everyone know here how it was that YOU got here? AND how many times YOU'VE retuned to Cuba.
They should have worn surgical gloves - assuming they hadn't already stolen them all.
Castro was such a genius as a leader. Empty out the jails and send all the criminals to the US. Let the US implode. Scarface.
"As far as we know, this brazen crime is the biggest theft in Connecticut history, and in the history of the pharmaceutical industry, countrywide," Fein said. Umm no, what the drug industry charges for its drugs is the biggest crime in the pharmaceutical industry's history, please at least get yer facts straight. Im sorry but anything over 50 dollars for a thirty day supply is criminal. For instance 300-400 dollars for a 30 day supply of protonix which is only an antacid is criminal, and thats on the cheap end of the price scale.
Quite right. The "legit" pharmaceutical companies have ripped off people in this country far more than two Cuban thieves could ever dream of doing! People in America aren't driving to Canada for the fresh air, after all.
OK, but do you know how much it costs to develop a new drug and bring it to market? Hundreds of millions at a minimum. If it's for a condition that doesn't have a huge market of sufferers, then the drug will be priced high to enable a profit before the patent runs out.
but the real question is, what have Connecticutians been doing without their Prozac for the past year???
>_>
"biggest theft in CT history", sounds like a cushy place to work if you're a cop then
We used to have a Merck Chemical Co. plant in the county that I live in. They made the ingredients for Zocor the statin drug for cholesterol (before their patent expired). I worked for a subcontractor doing structural drawings for plant maintenance. One of their supervisors told me each semi trailer that left the plant was worth $54 million and it wouldn't even be full that was just all the insurance they could get on each truck.
I agree Derek it costs a lot of money to get a new drug approved. What I don't understand is why do drugs costs 3 times what they pay in Canada & then they pass a law making it illegal for Americans to import their medicine from Canada. My wife used to get her meds from Canada & her Dr. went along with it he would write her prescriptions for a 3 month supply. We were saving a couple hundred dollars a month because we don't have presciption coverage. It makes me mad, why don't we get the same price as Canada?
Simple answer - again the US population is subsidizing the rest of the world. This is another form of foreign aid. The US pays triple (or more) the cost of production so the rest of the world can have access to these drugs.
Again I ask, why pay tax money on people like these to be in jail. If they are going to be in jail at least make it mean something.
Chain gangs???
hmmm, lets see in the " Good Old Days " they had what was called " Pay for the crime " sentencing, that would mean working to pay for your expenses and part of the income would pay for the crime Restoration, how would you like that system being applied?
Didn't Castro send this pair?
Yes, right into the welcoming arms of the Florida Republican party.
Why would they steal those kind of drugs? I just don't get that.
Note that they did not steal any low cost generic drugs. All the overpriced brand name drugs they got are worth a fortune.
My hats off to them, getting much needed drugs out to the community. Mondern day Robin Hoods, it's too bad they had to get caught.
From the article:
What is even more crazy about all this, is why, on earth, didn't the company have 24 hour armed guards protecting the inventory in those warehouses. It would seem that if was worth that much, and in such demand, that it would warrant guards instead of an alarm that can be easily unarmed.
They have insurance. It is the same for banks. Do any banks still have armed guards to shoot bank robbers?
Their theft killed people. These people could not get their medicine. I think the prosecutors should do an investigation to see who died from the lack of this medication. First degree murder for each one. Fact is, they knew people would die. They didn't care. Give them an equal dose of what they provided to the sick. Death for both. Maybe it will send a message.
Shows how much or how little American's know doesn't it? We are getting chewed up and spit out all the time.American's yelling book learning and more book learning and college while others are ripping us off.That is sooo intelligent in well educated people isn't it?
what?
Vivan los Villas! Crooks set new world record for Guiness!
Sorry, $80 million won't touch the record.
Lilly was probably in on it.
Amed and Amaury are going to be aleft in aprison alongtime, which is alright . . .
Alright! :-)
This was an on going problem for a long time ,I'm in the trucking industry and every Friday for the
last few years we got a report on stolen truck and trailer yes the whole thing that was stolen the
week before and where to park and to watch for a group out of Miami FL. They would steal anything
but the hottest item of all was P/G loads . Tide soap the hottest item around ( why ) easy to sell .
We have Miller beer, they steal those semi trucks all the time & they hit the boxcars on the RR tracks & empty them out. (not the Cubans a different ethnicity)
WHAT DID I TELL YOU, HEFE! Don't drink the water!!!
Worth Millions, but cost 5 dollars to make
In their defense, I does take many dollars and years of research and testing before releasing the drugs...however, I also believe that greed is a big factor in price...I drive a Chevy...they drive Beemers. But man!! you gotta love the Cialis!
So much for armed Security.
Pity we can't subcontract their pending long incarceration to the Cuban government, where once back home they can serve out their prison time in the luxury of a Cuban prison.