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Greenbrier police arrest suspects in multi-state prescription fraud
Two Texas men accused of using fake prescriptions to obtain pharmaceutical narcotics are currently behind bars in Robertson County.
www.wkrn.com
Greenbrier police arrest suspects in multi-state prescription fraud
by: Andy Cordan
Posted: Jan 25, 2023 / 05:43 PM CST
Updated: Jan 25, 2023 / 05:58 PM CST
GREENBRIER, Tenn. (WKRN) — Two Texas men accused of using fake prescriptions to obtain pharmaceutical narcotics are currently behind bars in Robertson County.
On Monday, Jan. 23, Greenbrier detectives got a tip that two men were trying to obtain large amounts of liquid codeine using fake prescriptions.
Video obtained by News 2 shows one of the suspects waiting in line at a pharmacy counter, where he was about to fraudulently obtain a 270 milliliter bottle of codeine syrup.
Police have since identified that man as 24-year-old Abdurrahman Kamorudeen Abidogum.
According to detectives, Abidogum was using a fake prescription obtained with a real Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) number stolen from a doctor.
“We know that the street value of what they got at the Greenbrier pharmacy is roughly $1,250,” Lt. Curt Allen with the Greenbrier Police Department told News 2.
While Abidogum was working the inside, his alleged partner — identified by authorities as 24-year-old Hamad Fayez-Salem Ghwari — was waiting in the rental vehicle in the parking lot.
“It looks like they’re traveling all over the country,” Allen added. “It looks like they may be focusing on smaller areas like Greenbrier.”
As the men were about to leave the pharmacy, Greenbrier detectives swooped in for the arrest.
According to investigators, when detectives questioned the men, they reportedly spoke quickly to each other in another language and then said nothing more.
A search of the vehicle revealed more than $13,000 in cash, as well as multiple gift cards with unknown amounts of money on them. The men also had a Rolex watch and Saudi Arabian currency.
Police said both men are U.S. citizens who had recently traveled to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
Detectives reported the men are prescription fraud suspects in three states, including multiple jurisdictions in Middle Tennessee.
“You’re probably looking at six different doctors in six different areas, three different states,” explained Lt. Buster Locklayer with the Greenbrier Police Department. “We’ve made contact with eight different pharmacies that these individuals have gone to. As a matter of fact, they actually used an address to a house here in town that’s actually for sale.”
The men are being held without bond in the Robertson County Jail until they see the judge.
News 2 has learned that agencies from across the Mid-South are inquiring about this case, which could also catch the interest of the FBI and DEA.
Police told News 2 the men had key cards from 75 different hotels across the country and receipts for plane tickets from Texas to multiple cities around the U.S., as well as international flights.