Updated: Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010, 7:51 AM EDT
Published : Tuesday, 16 Mar 2010, 7:51 AM EDT
Enfield, Conn. (WTNH) - Thieves broke into an Enfield, Connecticut, warehouse filled with prescription drugs, getting away with up to $75 million worth of narcotics.
The large, non-descript brown building back in the woods in Enfield is a transportation hub of sorts for prescription drug company Eli Lilly . Over the weekend someone cut a hole in the roof and rappelled inside, stealing between $50-$75 million worth of drugs. It's the largest theft in town history.
"The hole was very high up and there was no way they you would be able to leap to the floor," Enfield Police Chief Carl Sferrazza said. "I don't want to get into the specific evidence that we found there, but we believe that is how they gained entry into the building."
Police are still collecting evidence and trying to figure how much of what drugs were stolen. Sources close to the investigation say about 70 pallets of prescription drugs were taken.
"We don't have a list of exactly what they took," Chief Sferrazza said. "There are pain killers involved. All prescription drugs. That is the kind of narcotics that are housed there."
Police say the thieves may have gone in through the roof, but they probably left out the back door at the loading docks because they needed at least one tractor trailer, maybe two, to get the drugs out. Police say these guys knew what they were doing.
"The evidence the officers found, this does not appear that it is one or two individuals that committed this burglary," said Chief Sferrazza. "It appears to be a well-organized and large-scale operation."
Federal authorities will be meeting Tuesday to go over what happened and to try to figure out who committed this crime.
Anyone who may have witnessed anything is asked to contact the Enfield Police Department at 860-763-8918.
Enfield is located between Hartford, the capitol of Connecticut, and Springfield, Massachusetts.
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