Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1962-07-22
DRUGS
II Areo Drug Stores Linked
To Stolen Narcotics Troffic
Continued From Page A.

o OTOI6T
Continued From Page Al
were found in three Of their
stores.
Aside from the marked bot
ties and drug cartons divert
ed from District General Hos
pital, the police investigation
has turned up other evidence
pointing to a hospital source.
This evidence includes:
A drug salespan's statement
that two drug store owners
who sold him thousands of
dollars worth of drugs below
wholesale cost had told him
the drugs were surplus from
q hospital"
A drug store owners state
ment that the delivery man
for the fence advised him that
no drugs would be available for
about a week because they
were taking inventory down
there" The delivery man did
not identify down there" but
at the time he held up deliv-
cries, the police investigation
had prompted District General
Hospital to make a count of
its drugs.
I. The same store owners OBJ
servation that he believed the
drugs were coming from a hos
pital because one bottle he
bought contained $500 tablets
and that type Of drug was never
available to 1.-THE trade" in
more than 1000 tablets to the
bottle.
NONC0ntroI Plan
Hospital authorities have &C.
knowledged that for a year
they have been aware that they
had no adequate way to con-
troll drugs leaving the mair
supply room Of the hospital
They have asked for an elec-
tronic punch card system tt
keep track of the more thar
100000 worth of drugs bought
by the hospital annually.
The police investigation has
been underway since late April
Joined by Prince Georges anC
Montgomery County polio e
Washington detectives have fol.
lowed the trail of drugs
throughout the area from Bal.
timore to Southern Maryland
Police Start on Trail
Here's how the police par
layed the discovery Of a single
bottle of drugs in the wrong
place into an expose Of whole
sale Illicit drug trafficking:
On April 10, a District Gen.
eral Hospital official called po-
lice to say that Representatives
of q pharmaceutical house
were coming to the hospital on
April % to discuss the finding
of a bottle Of chloromycetin,
an antibiotic, marked for the
hospital in a Maryland drug
store. Police were asked to at
tend the meeting.
On April %, Detective Rob-
ert c. Ferguson Of the police
narcotics squad met the gen
eral manager Of the pharma
ceutical firm, the Distric
manager and a salesman a
the hospital.
The salesman told Of goini
to a Silver Spring drug .storl
to ask If the store owne
needed an order of chloromy
cetin. The pharmacist told tn
salesman that he could buy
more cheaply from someon
else than he could get it from
the drug firm. The salesman
asked to see the bottle and i'm
mediately recognized it as on
marked for District Genera
Hospital.
The pharmacist told him h
had paid $24 for it. which wa
/. indeed cheaper than the $30.6
wholesale price for a bottle G
. 100. The salesman offered t
exchange the pharmacists bot
! tie for another one and wen
off with the marked bottle. Til
salesman notified his superior
who called the hospital for
meeting and asked that polio
be notified.
Hospital Inventory Impossible
Detective Ferguson propose
! an inventory of the supply {
chloromycetin at the hoSpits
to find out how much we
missing. Although hospits
j authorities agreed to the ir
pentory. when the detectiv
checked back several days Ia
ster, he was told that it Wa
impossible to run an inventor,
The long process Of tracin
the misplaced bottle Of chlorC
mycetin began on the day {
that first hospital meeting. DE-
tective Ferguson picked U
Montgomery County Detecti,
Corpl. John Schrock and paid
call on the Silver Spring dru
store where the drug salesma
had spotted the marked bottl
There, they found the secor
marked bottle of chloromyceti,
The drug store owner to-
them he had gotten three bo
ties from another Silver Sprir
drug store owner, who hs
called to say he had some e,
ira bottles and would sell ther
The two detectives prompt
visited the second drug stor
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