Police are currently looking for a team of armed robbers that has already hit two Athens drug stores.

Lieutenant Tyndell believes the two robberies have a connection.
He says, “This is not a common type of robbery and to have two in 10 days with that many similarities in the suspects and the possible vehicle information […]”

Both Hodgson’s Pharmacy and The Village Drug Shop on Prince Avenue did not have any video cameras in their stores at the time of the robberies, making it more difficult for the police.

Lieutenant Tyndell says the robbers target smaller drugs stores for one reason.

“When you’re talking numbers of people [in smaller pharmacies], you’re talking like 10. Whereas if you go in a CVS or Wal-Mart type establishment, you’ll see a lot more people than that.”

The robbers stole painkillers- highly addictive and highly demanded on the streets.

Lieutenant Tyndall believes the robbers stole the drugs in order to sell it on the streets.

Oxycodone. Oxycontin. Percocet.
These pills are prescribed to be a powerful pain reliever, but these small pills are causing a big problem for pharmacies.

UGA Pharmacy professor Randall Tackett says,”There’s been really an epidemic of opioid abuse and all three of these drugs are opioids and so prescribers are under great scrutiny as far as prescribing the drug.”

The American Society of Addiction Medicine states that more than 18,000 people died of overdoses of prescribed pain relievers in 2014.

“The narcotics are very popular groups that are stolen. Those are the ones on the street that are easier to sell and to turn a profit,” said Professor Tackett.

Please contact Athens Crime Stoppers at 706-705-4775 if you have any information on the robberies.

By: Jane Mo