Doctor, 26 others arrested in 10-month task force probe into illicit drug operation in Haymarket

In October 2015, detectives from the Prince William-Manassas City-Manassas Park Narcotics Task Force, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Haymarket Police Department, began investigating a group of suspects in Prince William County who were allegedly involved in the import and distribution of high volumes of illicit Xanax pills, according to Sgt. Jonathan Perok, police department spokesman.

This investigation, known as Operation Breaking Bars, began as the result of a previous investigation by detectives from the Prince William County Police, Special Victims Unit earlier that month, as well as, information obtained from Operation Growing Pains conducted by the joint task force in the summer of 2015.

During the investigation, it was discovered that multiple suspects in Prince William County were involved in ordering illicit, and often counterfeit, Xanax from the “Dark Web,” a known online black market for websites involved in criminal activity. These suspects would purchase the narcotics and then ship them to Prince William County for the purpose of redistribution, Perok said.

He added that detectives further discovered that suspects involved in this investigation would order large quantities of Xanax at a time and that the majority of the individuals purchasing from these suspects were in their teens and early 20s.

As a result of this investigation, detectives learned that one of the suspects was actively distributing medication which had been prescribed to the suspect by a doctor, identified as Craig Charles KRAUSE, in Gainesville.

Beginning in February, 2016, detectives made contact with the doctor on multiple occasions to advise him that the medication prescribed was being abused and distributed by the individual. The doctor refused to cease the prescribing of the medication, according to Perok.

Additionally, detectives discovered that the doctor had prescribed medication to several of the other individuals involved in the operation and that one of the suspects had sold Xanax to an undercover detective during Operation Growing Pains in 2015.

On August 9, 2016, search warrants were executed at the doctor’s office at 7544 Gardner Park Drive in Gainesville (Lake Manassas Medical Psychiatry) as well as his office at 5675 Stone Road, Suite 320, in Centreville (Fairfax Mental Health). Upon a search post-arrest, the doctor was found to be in possession of suspected Hydrocodone and a firearm, according to a police department report.

Over the course of several months, the Prince William-Manassas-Manassas Park Narcotics Task Force, the Prince William County Police Street Crimes Unit, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Harrisonburg R.U.S.H. Drug Task Force executed a total of 15 search warrants in western Prince William County and in the Harrisonburg, Va. area regarding this investigation, Perok reported.

A total of 28 suspects were identified and charged in connection to this investigation. Some 27 of the suspects have been arrested. These suspects are allegedly responsible for the distribution of thousands of Xanax pills in Prince William County, as well as in other parts of the country. As a result of the searches evidence was recovered supporting the involvement in the import and distribution of narcotics, the police report said.

Additionally, multiple computers, marijuana, narcotics paraphernalia, large quantities of suspected Xanax and Hydrocodone pills, firearms, packaging material, large quantities of marijuana wax and U.S. Currency were also recovered. The charges in this investigation include distribution of narcotics, money laundering, and related weapons charges. Cooperation continues with the Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney’s Office and the United States Attorney’s Office.

The Prince William County Police Department continues to remind parents to be aware of their children’s computer use, more specifically, monitoring the use of the “TOR browser,” “Onion websites,” “Bitcoin” services and suspicious packages being delivered to their residences. These items are routinely consistent with use of the “Dark Web” to order illicit narcotics.

Additionally, Sgt. Perok noted that Xanax has become increasingly popular with teens and young adults as a “party drug” and has a high potential for abuse with that age group. Abuse of these narcotics raises concerns of addiction, which can lead to seizures and life-threatening conditions, as well as a potential for overdoses. Xanax abuse is also known to cause blackouts and has been used as a “date rape” style drug, due to the victims having no control of their bodies during this period, as well as having little to no memory of the event.

*See the attached PDF for a list of the suspects identified in this operation.

Operation_Breaking_Bars_Suspects.pdf