Las Vegas NowPolice: Woman at Prescription Store Faces Felonies

Police: Woman at Prescription Store Faces Felonies

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in prescription drugs have been confiscated from a local convenience store. Police say the store was selling these medicines to customers with no prescription needed.

The bust netted $500,000 worth of prescription drugs. Police says the store's scheme was very simple -- you would just walk right in, tell them your symptoms and they would sell you the medicine from Mexico. Not only was it illegal, it was dangerous.

Thirty-four-year-old Sandra Gutierrez has been arrested and charged with three counts of furnishing dangerous drugs without a prescription. Police are now working to see if more arrests need to be made.

From cardiac medicine to antibiotics, there's a good chance you could have found it at El Arcoiris or the Rainbow Store. "It was just clients going in buying medicine, buying sodas. They sell shoe laces and shoes. It was just a regular store," said Rigoberto Bugarin.

But police say the small store in North Las Vegas was hiding a dangerous operation and putting customer lives in jeopardy. "This is someone who is just taking advantage of their community. I consider it preying on our community because they are fully aware what they are doing. They know the negative ramifications of the illnesses," said Metro Lt. George Castro.

Castro believes the drugs were brought in from Mexico, some sold to customers for double or triple what's charged at a regular pharmacy.

Even though the drugs are gone, the store is open for business, but employees quickly locked up when members of the media tried to enter.  

As for the police investigation, Lt. Castro says the next step is finding out how many people are involved. "All they are is a cancer and if it continues on, all it is going to do is erode the health of the people in our community, which causes more illnesses," he said.

Sandra Gutierrez was released from jail and she could face more charges. Police say it was a tip from a concerned citizen that led them to this store. They urge anyone who knows of any other underground prescription drug operations to tell police.