DEA raids clinics, pharmacies in 'pill mill' crackdown

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- Authorities raided medical clinics, pharmacies and other locations across the South on Wednesday as part of a Drug Enforcement Administration attempt to thwart illegal prescription drug sales.

The raids in Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were the latest stage of an operation launched last summer by the Drug Enforcement Administration's drug diversion unit, which has netted 280 arrests over more than a year, including 22 doctors and pharmacists.

"We have people who have taken an oath to do no harm who are throwing that oath out the window," DEA special agent in charge Keith Brown said after the early morning raids.

The DEA's "Operation Pilluted" had focused on the illegal distribution of oxycodone, hydrocodone and Xanax by medical professionals and does not target addicts. Agents arrested 48 people Wednesday: 22 in Louisiana, nine each in Alabama and Arkansas and eight in Mississippi.