Pharmacy Tech Allegedly Steals More Than 2,200 Xanax Pills

A Meijer pharmacy technician has been accused of stealing prescription pills. The pharmacy technician who worked at the Meijer location at 10 Mile and Schoenherr in Warren, allegedly stole more than 2,200 Alprazolam prescription pills from the pharmacy. Alprazolam is the generic form of the narcotic Xanax.

Authorities say the alleged embezzlement occurred on three separate occasions between May and June of this year. All three incidents were caught on the pharmacy’s security footage.

The pharmacy technician would reportedly act as if she was returning stock bottles to the shelf, then select a bottle of Alprazolam. Officials say she would take that bottle to the pharmacy’s consultation room, conceal the bottle in her pants and then resume her duties as a pharmacy technician.

“Unfortunately, in recent years, the abuse of Xanax has exponentially grown and caused tremendous harm in the community,” Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said in a release. “To see someone in a position of trust with such access to dangerous narcotics is a very serious threat to the safety of our residents in the current environment of the prescription drug epidemic.”

The pharmacy technician was charged with one count of Possession with Intent to Distribute Alprazolam, a 4-year felony, one count of Obtaining a Controlled Substance by Fraud, a 4-year felony and one count of Embezzlement $200 to $1,000, a one-year misdemeanor.