A man from Torre Pacheco has been arrested after allegedly forging a medical prescription up to 30 times to obtain hypnotic medication from pharmacies across the region.
Officers from the Guardia Civil carried out the investigation under Operation Galendas, which uncovered a scheme involving digitally altered prescriptions that were almost impossible to detect at first glance.
The probe began last July after pharmacists in Torre Pacheco reported a suspicious prescription for a sleeping drug. Investigators then worked alongside the Colegio Oficial de Farmacéuticos de la Región de Murcia and the pharmaceutical management service of the Consejería de Sanidad de la Región de Murcia to determine whether similar cases had occurred in other pharmacies.
Their enquiries soon identified a local resident who, between January and August last year, allegedly purchased the same medication on as many as 30 occasions using falsified prescriptions.
Detectives traced the purchases to pharmacies across several towns in the Campo de Cartagena area, where the suspect had presented what appeared to be legitimate prescriptions.
A detailed forensic review revealed the documents had been digitally manipulated copies of a single genuine prescription originally issued by a doctor. Investigators say the suspect repeatedly reproduced the document while fraudulently using the doctor’s identity.
The suspect has now been arrested and charged with falsifying an official document and identity theft, according to the Guardia Civil. The investigation highlights the increasingly sophisticated methods being used to obtain controlled medications illegally.
