The 12,000 Oxycodone Tablets Outside the Squad's Lane
You are a GS-13 special agent on a squad whose mission is cartel-linked cocaine trafficking. Over the past 60 days, three pharmacies in your area have reported a total of 12,000 oxycodone tablets unaccounted for. One pharmacy fired a technician; another has a pharmacist on administrative leave. A physician 30 miles away writes roughly 80 percent of the prescriptions tied to the three pharmacies. No one on your squad has opened a case. Your supervisor says pharmaceutical diversion is 'not our lane' and points out the squad is carrying 14 open wire investigations. You have about four hours of unscheduled administrative time each week. You have no subpoena power on your own and no paid-informant funding available without approval.
1. What steps can you take in the next two weeks within your existing authority, without opening a case?
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I would treat this as a preliminary inquiry rather than a case. Within my authority, I could run deconfliction checks to see whether another office or agency is already working the pharmacies or the physician. I could review internal databases and public records, contact the state pharmacy board and the DEA diversion field office to ask whether they have seen the same pattern, and check whether the fired technician or suspended pharmacist has a licensing or criminal history that is publicly available. I could map the three pharmacies, the physician's prescribing pattern, and any overlapping patient addresses, but I would not query restricted prescription databases unless I am authorized. I would document each step and keep the inquiry bounded to my four hours a week. I would not contact the pharmacies as an agent, interview suspects, or use a confidential informant without approval. The goal is to determine whether the pattern is real, whether it is already covered, and whether it warrants a formal case request.
2. How would you pitch the matter to your supervisor, and what specific metrics would you use?
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I would ask for a short meeting and bring a one-page proposal, not a lecture about mission creep. The pitch would frame the issue in the supervisor's terms: 12,000 diverted oxycodone tablets in 60 days are a supply-chain and public-safety problem, and the 80 percent prescriber link suggests an organized scheme rather than isolated theft. I would emphasize that I am not asking to abandon the cocaine wires; I am asking for a 30-day preliminary assessment and perhaps ten hours of support. The metrics would be the number of tablets unaccounted for, the number of prescriptions tied to the physician, the overlap between patients and the three pharmacies, the distance and timeline of the prescriber's activity, the licensing history of the fired technician and suspended pharmacist, and whether any deconfliction hit shows an existing case. I would also identify a likely partner, such as the diversion field office or a local task force, so the squad is not adding the entire burden alone.
3. What should you avoid doing, and why?
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I should avoid opening a case without approval, conducting unauthorized database queries, contacting the pharmacies in an investigative capacity, or using a confidential informant without funding and authorization. I should not subpoena records or promise anyone that the squad will take the case. Those steps could compromise an existing investigation, create legal problems, or waste scarce resources. I should also avoid framing the issue as a personal crusade or going around my supervisor before giving the chain of command a chance to respond. If the supervisor denies the request, I can document the denial and ask whether another office should receive the lead, but I should not freelance. The reason is simple: initiative is valuable, but unauthorized investigative activity can taint evidence, violate policy, and damage the squad's credibility. The right approach is to gather enough information to make a professional, documented pitch and let the chain of command decide.