Boeing workers charged after drugs raid
Source: Agencies |
October 1, 2011, Saturday
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FEDERAL authorities have charged 36 current or former Boeing employees with selling or trying to buy painkillers and anti-anxiety drugs at a suburban Philadelphia plant that makes military aircraft.
Following a four-year investigation, US Attorney Zane David Memeger said 23 people were charged with selling the prescription painkiller Oxycontin and other illegal drugs and 14 were charged with attempted possession of various drugs.
Only one is not a current or former Boeing Co employee. Another person was expected to be arrested.
"This investigation and prosecution focused not only on the sellers, but also on the users because of the critical role that these employees play in manufacturing military aircraft," Memeger said.
Boeing employs more than 6,000 people at the Ridley Park plant, where the V-22 Osprey vertical take-off aircraft and H-47 Chinook helicopters are produced. The Osprey and Chinook are standard US military aircraft used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There was no evidence that the integrity of the work on any aircraft had been compromised, Memeger said.
Boeing spokesman Damien Mills said the company cooperated with the investigation and made sure the employees under suspicion were in no position to compromise the safety or quality of the aircraft.
The employees charged in the case were suspended, Boeing said.
FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents launched the raid early Thursday morning at the plant.
The bust turned up the power painkiller Oxycontin as well as fentanyl, which is sold in lozenge form as Actiq. It also found the painkiller buprenorphine, which is sold as Suboxone, and the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, sold as Xanax, officials said.
Boeing spokesman Damien Mills said that in May 2006 some employees contacted the company's internal ethics group with suspicions there was illegal drug activity at the plant.
He said Boeing began an investigation and in August 2007 turned its findings over to federal investigators.
If convicted, those charged with distribution face possible sentences of 10 to 260 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines, the US Attorney's office said.
Following a four-year investigation, US Attorney Zane David Memeger said 23 people were charged with selling the prescription painkiller Oxycontin and other illegal drugs and 14 were charged with attempted possession of various drugs.
Only one is not a current or former Boeing Co employee. Another person was expected to be arrested.
"This investigation and prosecution focused not only on the sellers, but also on the users because of the critical role that these employees play in manufacturing military aircraft," Memeger said.
Boeing employs more than 6,000 people at the Ridley Park plant, where the V-22 Osprey vertical take-off aircraft and H-47 Chinook helicopters are produced. The Osprey and Chinook are standard US military aircraft used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There was no evidence that the integrity of the work on any aircraft had been compromised, Memeger said.
Boeing spokesman Damien Mills said the company cooperated with the investigation and made sure the employees under suspicion were in no position to compromise the safety or quality of the aircraft.
The employees charged in the case were suspended, Boeing said.
FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents launched the raid early Thursday morning at the plant.
The bust turned up the power painkiller Oxycontin as well as fentanyl, which is sold in lozenge form as Actiq. It also found the painkiller buprenorphine, which is sold as Suboxone, and the anti-anxiety drug alprazolam, sold as Xanax, officials said.
Boeing spokesman Damien Mills said that in May 2006 some employees contacted the company's internal ethics group with suspicions there was illegal drug activity at the plant.
He said Boeing began an investigation and in August 2007 turned its findings over to federal investigators.
If convicted, those charged with distribution face possible sentences of 10 to 260 years in prison and millions of dollars in fines, the US Attorney's office said.
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