PHARMACY RAIDED BY DEA AGENTS

LAKELAND - A local pharmacy's license was suspended Thursday after it
was raided by agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Agents also raided a sister store at 4607 Clark Ave. in Tampa that
operated under the name MediPharm-Rx Inc.

Both pharmacies are owned by a Robert L. Caddick, whose last known
address was in Oviedo. Caddick could not be located for comment.

Jeannette Moran, spokeswoman for the DEA's Miami Field Division, said
that both pharmacies' licenses to sell controlled substances have
been suspended.

"There was no criminal action taken today," she said. "This is what
we call administrative (action)."

She said the DEA considers the operation as a whole to be an
"imminent danger to public health and safety."

She said agents pulled 635,000 doses of prescription medicines from
the Tampa location.

Most of those medicines were hydrocodone, sold as Vicodin, and
alprazolam, sold as Xanax.

The Web site www.medipharm-rx.net lists the same contact address as
the Tampa storefront. The site appears to be an online pharmacy.

"My understanding is they were selling drugs over the Internet," Moran said.

Moran could not provide further details.

She said the company has 60 days to appeal its suspension through an
administrative hearing with the DEA. The agency will then decide
whether to revoke the pharmacies' licenses permanently.

Moran said the pharmacies are free to continue selling uncontrolled
substances from their storefronts