Overview
- Guardia Civil in Cantabria detained two men aged 20 and 45 in Barcelona after tracing a pattern of roughly 80 identical forged prescriptions.
- One suspect was intercepted at Barcelona airport before security after purchasing a one-way ticket to India, and the second was arrested two days later in the city.
- The forgeries surfaced at 29 pharmacies in Cantabria and at additional outlets in Asturias, Valladolid, Vitoria and Logroño, all bearing the same patient and prescriber data.
- The operation focused on an anxiolytic and a codeine-based medication, which authorities suspect were sought for retail diversion of pills or for use in making other drugs.
- The Cantabria pharmacists’ college flagged the anomaly, the Valdecilla ROCA team led the case with support from Barcelona units, and one detainee is an irregular resident with an expulsion file.