Employee admits to theft of medical supplies valued $100,000 from Diamond Bond; Another resigned

Following yesterday’s (Wednesday, May 17, 2017), the discovery of stolen drugs at the Diamond Bond, one male employee has admitted to the crime.

According to the Ministry of Public Health, several others are on station bail as the investigations continue.

Reports stated that eleven individuals, six men and five women, were detained on Wednesday evening following a police sting operation in the Diamond area. The ranks were able to prevent a bus laden with pharmaceuticals from leaving the area.

The Public Health Ministry says the employees who were initially taken into custody and later released have not reported for duty today (Thursday, May 18, 2017) as “They are on strike”.

An official from the Materials Management Unit (MMU) has reported that one of the female MMU worker who was among the 15 arrested initially, has resigned “with immediate effect”.

Items stashed off included Clozole (an anti-fungal cream used for yeast infection); OnCall Plus (used mainly by diabetics to test the blood sugar);  Chlorophane (a cough medicine) and ferrovite (a multivitamin product used to treat or prevent low blood levels of iron and vitamin B12).

The stolen items have been conservatively valued at US$500 (G$100,000), the Ministry statement disclosed.

Over time, quantities of pharmaceuticals were found to be missing from the Bond. This was followed by a shortage of medical supplies in the Public Health system.