Pa. Boeing plant drug raid nets dozens

PHILADELPHIA?? More than three dozen people have been charged in a prescription drug sweep that included a raid on a Boeing plant near Philadelphia that makes military helicopters.

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The arrests happened Thursday morning at the 5,400-employee plant in Ridley Park.

The drugs were bought and sold on Boeing property, U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Federal authorities say 37 people are charged with illegal distribution of a prescription drug. All but one is an employee or former employee of the plant.

Workers there build aircraft including the H-47 Chinook helicopter and the V-22 Osprey. The plant is part of the Defense, Space and Security unit of the Chicago-based Boeing Co. It is also the headquarters for its Rotorcraft division.

Twenty-three were charged in an indictment with illegal distribution of prescription drugs, including fentanyl, oxycodone and Xanax, officials told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

"This wasn't an organized ring. It was a number of independent actors," said Memeger. "A number of independent sellers and no shortage of buyers were found by investigators."

The four-year investigation focused on sellers as well as users because of the critical role that these employees play in manufacturing military aircraft, Memeger told the Inquirer. Boeing officials brought their suspicions to federal agents and the company cooperated with the investigation.

The defendants allegedly either sold one of the drugs to an FBI "cooperator" or bought what they though were drugs, but were placebos, from the cooperator.

An official with Boeing's Military Aircraft division at the plant declined to comment. A message left for a defense unit spokesman was not immediately returned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44720119/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/

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