(THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)
A sharp-eyed pharmacist in Portage la Prairie called Manitoba RCMP after a man tried to fill a forged prescription, according to police.
Mounties responded to the Saskatchewan Avenue pharmacy on the afternoon of February 12, where they say a 30-year-old man dropped off a prescription to be filled for a liquid cough medication containing codeine, a highly addictive opioid.
The pharmacist contacted the prescribing physician and was advised that the prescription had been forged.
While speaking with officers, the pharmacist informed them the same man had just attempted to have a prescription filled for the same product at another pharmacy located in Portage la Prairie. The suspect’s prescription was denied and he left the store in a silver-coloured SUV.
Officers located the man travelling westbound on Highway 1 and arrested him.
Badal Kaahin Kaafi of Edmonton faces charges of possession of an opioid for the purpose of trafficking and possession of a forged document. Police located two bottles of the same medication in his vehicle, which had been dispensed at a pharmacy in Winnipeg.
“We are really glad that the employee at the pharmacy followed their instinct and contacted police,” said S/Sgt Rob Vachon of the Portage la Prairie RCMP detachment.
“Without the diligence of that employee, this individual may have gone undetected and that medication could have made it out on the street.”
RCMP continue to investigate.
