DETROIT – Michigan State Police have detained three women and two men and seized three guns as they continue to execute “Operation Candy Man” in Oakland, Wayne, and Genesee counties.
“Operation Candy Man” is a plan to raid locations throughout Metro Detroit and stop nurses who are illegally selling thousands of opioids. Officials said some nurse practitioners have been issuing illegal prescriptions for tens of thousands of controlled pills.
Police are specifically targeting the illegal prescribing of hydrocodone and oxycodone, they said. Most of the pills are being illegally diverted for street sales, according to MSP.
On Wednesday (May 11), state troopers searched locations in West Bloomfield, Detroit, Taylor, Van Buren Township, and Grand Blanc, they said. Officials also interviewed “patients” and suspects who were inside those locations.
Five people have been detained: A 67-year-old West Bloomfield man, a 41-year-old Grand Blanc woman, a 47-year-old Van Buren Township woman, a 30-year-old Detroit man, and a 53-year-old Taylor woman.
None of those detainees have been charged, state police said.
Three firearms were seized, authorities said. One was on a suspect and two were taken from “patients,” according to officials.
“Illegal clinics like this one are a leading contributor to overdose deaths and people becoming addicted to opiates, and we will continue to aggressively investigate them,” Michigan State Police tweeted. “The MSP was assisted by LARA, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, the DEA, and Blue Cross Blue Shield.”
