"Operation Purple Haze" results in 20 arrests; targets "sizzurp" or "drank"

SAN DIEGO COUNTY – San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis announced last week that a joint operation targeting a ring of drug dealers in San Diego resulted in the arrest of 20 defendants on prescription fraud charges. “Operation Purple Haze” is a multi-agency investigation that began in 2013 and identified suspects involved in forging and filling prescriptions that were stolen from a doctor’s office to obtain promethazine with codeine cough syrup for distribution. As of Sept. 23, 18 of the 21 defendants have pleaded guilty to various related crimes, including prescription fraud and burglary.

Promethazine with codeine cough syrup is a Schedule V controlled pharmaceutical drug which acts as a depressant and when misused can result in respiratory failure and death. Popularized by rap culture, the drug is often mixed with soft drinks like Mountain Dew or Sprite, with hard candy added at times and is known by several names including “sizzurp” or “drank.” The drug is commonly abused by teens and young adults.

“The diversion of controlled prescription drugs poses a significant danger for the community,” said DEA San Diego Special Agent in Charge William R. Sherman. “These medications are extremely dangerous and addicting when not used as prescribed. People who sell these drugs are as dangerous to the community as heroin or cocaine dealers, and the DEA will continue to target these dangerous criminals.”