Thousands of criminal drug cases from around central and northern Florida may have been compromised by a police chemist, now under investigation for allegedly stealing pain medication from a Panhandle evidence room over several years.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement said Saturday that it has begun an investigation of the chemist, who works in the Pensacola Regional Crime Laboratory and is connected to about 2600 criminal cases since 2006 in about 30 Florida counties. Police did not release the name of the chemist.
Missing pain medication from the evidence room at the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office spurred the investigation, police said. Pain medication in evidence had been replaced with over-the-counter medications, police said. Investigators determined that each case with missing drugs had been analyzed by one Pensacola chemist.
That’s led state investigators to fan out to agencies across Florida, to inspect all evidence handled by the chemist — nearly 2,600 cases for 80 law enforcement agencies spanning 35 counties and 12 judicial circuits.
Florida police chemist investigated for stealing drug evidence; thousands of cases under review | The Raw Story
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