From The Mountain Advocate -
The Advocate reports that the Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a search of Parkway Pharmacy and two others in accordance with a “lawfully-issued warrant.”
DEA Public Information Officer Kevin McWilliams confirmed in a statement that one individual was arrested during the search. Federal agents working with state and local partners conducted the search on Wednesday June 24, 2020.
Parkway Pharmacy is owned by Barbourville City Councilman Calvin Manis who was arrested during the incident. Manis previously served time in prison for charges related to the selling of firearms. Manis was previously a member of the city council before his 2008 arrest.
DEA agents and the Kentucky State Police also visited Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy in Corbin and Plaza Drug of London in London.
Stephanie Collins, owner of Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy, did not respond to a social media request for comment. No indictment or other information, if there is any, has yet been made public in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky regarding anyone at the pharmacy, a News Journal review of federal court records indicates.
Neither the Corbin Police Department nor the Knox County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the DEA’s visit Wednesday in Corbin, according to both departments.
According to the Kentucky Secretary of State business filing records, Collins opened Stephanie’s Down Home Pharmacy in October 2011.
According to the Kentucky Board of Pharmacy, both the pharmacy and Collins are currently up to date on their licensure requirements. The pharmacy has a violation on its record with the board. According to the 2016 agreed order, between Jan. 4 and Feb. 12 a pharmacist worked at Stephanie’s without being appropriately licensed with the Board.
The pharmacy was fined $100, which was paid.
McWilliams said “While we are a federal law enforcement agency, we also have regulatory authority in accordance with the Controlled Substances Act. Part of our mandate is to visit pharmacies to ensure that they are compliant with respect to the safe handling of controlled substances and associated record keeping. These visits can include a pill count (inventory verification), staff interviews, and a thorough examination of records, which requires the pharmacy to suspend operations for the duration of our visit. In an effort to minimize this disruption of business to the pharmacy, DEA often enlists the help of our federal, state and local law enforcement counterparts, so that we can get in and out as quickly as possible. This often results in what appears to be a large law enforcement presence, which can sometimes fuel speculation about DEA’s actions. Our presence does not necessarily indicate wrongdoing on the part of a business or individual.”
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