With ‘Operation Money Bags,’ Investigators Tie Illegal Prescriptions To Gang Activity
Police say Drs. Sonny Oparah and Edward Ridgill wrote prescriptions to gang members who then resold the drugs on the street. Two criminal complaints charge the physicians with illegally prescribing the painkillers hydrocodone and codeine in exchange for cash.
Los Angeles Daily News:
Doctors Allegedly Sold Prescriptions To Gang Members Profiting For Cash From Burglaries
Two doctors have been charged with selling prescriptions for powerful drugs to gang members who allegedly bought them with profits from thousands of residential burglaries committed in the South Bay and across Southern California, prosecutors said Monday. Drs. Sonny Oparah, 75, of Long Beach and Edward Ridgill, 64, of Ventura surrendered Friday to federal authorities hours after Torrance police led some 400 police officers on raids in South Los Angeles that resulted in the arrests of 13 gang members allegedly involved in the burglary scheme. The physicians face charges that could send them to prison for the rest of their lives. (Altman, 8/29)