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Christchurch pharmacy robbed
30 July 2010
Bastin’s Pharmacy in Christchurch has been robbed.
A gun totting robber reportedly entered the pharmacy at 12.45 pm today and demanded morphine. He escaped with an undisclosed quantity of the controlled drug.
Pharmacy owner Alan Bastin says while was away at the time, the incident has left his three female staff thoroughly shaken.
“I have contacted the Pharmacy Defence Association and counsellors to offer the necessary support to my staff,” he says.
The police cordoned off the pharmacy for more than three hours to investigate the crime scene and talk to eyewitnesses. At the time of going to press, normal trading had resumed.
“I suppose the demand is there for such controlled drugs. When the police and the customs stem the flow of illegal supplies, the robbers target pharmacies,” Mr Bastin says.
“My concern is, codeine will soon become a restricted medicine. But the demand for its illicit use is not going away. That will make pharmacy target for yet another controlled drug.”
At the time of going to press, the Christchurch police had surrounded a house in Packe St, in St Albans as in their pursuit of the alleged robber.
On July 2, staff at the St Martins Pharmacy in the region were left similarly traumatised by a knife-wielding robber who made off with a large quantity of morphine.
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