The Drug Enforcement Administration and other authorities are cracking down on so-called "pill mills," raiding pharmacies, pain clinics and other facilities across four states in the Deep South in an effort to combat prescription pain drug abuse, law enforcement sources told NBC News. The morning busts from Arkansas to Alabama marked the culmination of a 15-month operation, dubbed "Operation Pillution," a source called the agency's single largest pharmaceutical operation. Its aim: To crack down on the illegal sale of pain pills like oxycodone and hydrocodone. A doctor was arrested at a Little Rock hospital, along with four staffers and a security guard; 140 people have been arrested since the crackdown began, sources said.
