TEWKSBURY — Chief Ryan M. Columbus reports that a man was arrested and charged Wednesday evening after allegedly attempting to pass fraudulent prescriptions at a local pharmacy, and for alleged trafficking of over 756 grams of codeine.
J’ANDRE RUSS, AGE 28, OF DORCHESTER was arrested and charged with:
- Trafficking Over 200 Grams of a Class A Substance (Codeine)
- Uttering a False Prescription (Two Counts)
- Furnishing False Identification to Law Enforcement
- Possession of a False RMV Document (Two Counts)
- Possession With Intent to Distribute a Class B Substance (Two Counts)
- Possession of a Class E Substance
- Fugitive From Justice
On Wednesday, Jan. 12, about 6 p.m., Tewksbury Police responded to a report of a male attempting to pass a fake prescription at CVS Pharmacy, 10 Main St.
Officers responded and located a male suspect — later identified as RUSS — still in the store.
RUSS was identified as the individual who had allegedly attempted to pass a fake prescription, and allegedly as having previously attempted to obtain another fake prescription on Dec. 30, 2021 at the same store. RUSS was taken into custody at the scene.
A subsequent search of a vehicle RUSS had been driving revealed bottles containing over 756 grams of apparent Codeine — an opiate derivative — two bottles of apparent Azithromycin tablets, a total of 49 tablets of apparent Oxycodone, a fake Massachusetts identification with a photo of RUSS and someone else’s name, two bags of marijuana edibles and 21 credit cards in other people’s names.
Over $1,000 in cash was found on RUSS as well.
Police also learned that RUSS was wanted on three arrest warrants, two from Boston and one from Broward County, Florida.
“I would like to thank the staff members at CVS Pharmacy who called us immediately upon detecting what appeared to be a fraudulent attempt to obtain a prescription,” said Chief Columbus. “Timely, accurate information from businesses and members of the public is a vital tool in our efforts to keep Tewksbury safe.”
RUSS was held without bail pending his arraignment Thursday at Lowell District Court.
These are allegations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.