Two brothers who were responsible for the biggest pharmaceutical theft in American history were finally caught because of  a water bottle!  Amaury and Amed Villa took 5 hours to steal $80 million in drugs in Connecticut, but one of them made the mistake of handling a bottle while there.  They are being charged for the theft in 2010.
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Two brothers arrested for the biggest pharmaceutical drug theft in U.S history might have got away with it had one of them not touched a bottle of water at the scene of the crime.
Arrested in Florida on Thursday, Amaury Villa, 37 and Amed Villa, 46 are accused of stealing $80 million in drugs from a Connecticut warehouse in an elaborate scheme that could have come straight out of a Hollywood heist movie.
Brought in after a three-year FBI investigation, the crucial piece of evidence was a small bottle of water Amed touched, recovered from the 70,000 square-foot warehouse they robbed in Enfield, Connecticut.
‘As far as we know, this brazen crime was the biggest theft in the history of Connecticut and the largest theft of pharmaceuticals in the United States,’ said Connecticut U.S Attorney David B. Fein.
The cross-state investigation dubbed, ‘Operation Southern Hospitality’ led to the Villa brothers being charged in Connecticut with theft and conspiracy related to the warehouse robbery.
One of the brothers, Amaury is also charged along with 10 others in Florida with selling and conspiring to sell stolen pharmaceuticals.
And in another related charge, federal authorities in Illinois have accused Amed Villa with the theft of 3,500 cases of cigarettes, which are valued at more than eight million dollars.
‘This investigation represents the largest take-down in U.S. history involving cargo theft. The theft involves more than $100 million, including $80 million worth of pharmaceuticals,’ said John V. Gillies, Special Agent in Charge for FBI Miami.
