Traverse City -- They smashed their way into a local pharmacy in search of painkillers, and made off with more than 100 bottles marked as prescription drugs.
Their real take? Multivitamins and fish oil capsules.
"A lot of the drugs were just placebos," said Dale Maupin, pharmacist at Medicap Pharmacy in Blair Township, where burglars struck early Feb. 10. "They're grabbing fake pills."
Maupin was called into the pharmacy around 2 a.m. after two people broke through the front glass door and stole more than 100 bottles of what they thought were powerful narcotics.
But Maupin's been through similar thefts, so he replaced the painkillers with over-the-counter supplements. It's just one of the precautions he takes after the pharmacy, located off Chums Village Drive, was broken into two months ago.
Grand Traverse sheriff's deputies continue to investigate both burglaries.
"They know exactly what they're looking for," said Lt. Jim MacKinnon, of the sheriff's department.
Surveillance equipment is installed throughout the pharmacy, but the tape was not running when the break-in occurred.
"I think it's just that they're hitting pharmacies these days," said Maupin, as he waited for a replacement door to arrive. "They got the system down."
The story is the same for Jim Bock. He owns four pharmacies across northwest Michigan, and has been burglarized several times in recent years.
"There's been a definite increase because the value of these drugs on the streets is pretty immense," said Bock, who owns The Prescription Shop in Glen Arbor, Honor, Suttons Bay and Traverse City.
About a year ago, Bock decided to fight back.
He ordered more surveillance equipment, installed shatter-proof film on glass doors and purchased refrigerator-sized safes for each pharmacy. All drugs with significant street value are locked inside the safe before the pharmacies close for the night.
"It would take two men, a truck and about two hours to steal those things," he said. "All of my shops are secure as I can get them without putting bars on the windows. Unfortunately, none of that stuff is cheap."
That same surveillance equipment helped Michigan State Police catch two suspects who broke into The Prescription Shop's Glen Arbor site in October.
"They just seem to be really popular right now," said state police Detective Sgt. Ingrid Dean, of the Traverse City post. "With the economy and financial difficulties, people are gravitating toward drug use."
Bock and Maupin contend an organized group of criminals is behind the rash of burglaries because the thieves tend to grab the same drugs, including Vidodin, Codeine, Morphine and Valium -- all of which can be administered to suppress pain.
"Those drugs are going to end up in your kids' pockets, maybe," Bock said.
Prescription drug abuse is no stranger to the region, and it's resulted in several local deaths.
Three Traverse City residents died last year from methadone overdoses, and another died with a mixture of methadone and another drug in his system. Methadone is used in clinics to help combat illegal drug addictions, but also is commonly prescribed by physicians for pain management.
Bock and Maupin also believe the burglaries are related because suspects were able to break in, steal the drugs and leave within minutes.
Law enforcement agencies tend to respond within five minutes of an intrusion alarm. Those behind December's burglary of Medicap Pharmacy were in and out within 90 seconds, Maupin said.
State police continue to investigate whether the burglaries are linked.
"We're thinking that it could be a group of people," Dean said. "I don't know if I'd call it organized."
