DEA searches Florida Walgreens
TAMPA, Fla., April 7 (UPI) -- The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration says it is investigating Walgreens pharmacies as it cracks down on Florida's illicit prescription medications market.
The DEA searched six Walgreens from Fort Pierce to the Tampa Bay area and a distribution center in Jupiter as part of its probe of increased traffic in the narcotic painkiller oxycodone, The Miami Herald reported.
"DEA is concerned about the recent significant rise in the number of oxycodone tablets purchased by Walgreens in Florida," said DEA Special Agent in Charge Mark Trouville.
The DEA's regulatory arm, which licenses pharmacies, doctors and other medical offices that distribute prescription drugs, is heading the investigation.
"We are working and cooperating with the DEA on this matter," Walgreen Co. spokesman Jim Cohn said.
In recent years, Florida has become a major source for black-market prescription painkillers, the Herald said. Pain medication from Florida has been found throughout the eastern United States, from Kentucky to Massachusetts.
Islamists upset with Suleiman nomination
CAIRO, April 7 (UPI) -- Several Islamist officials in Egypt have condemned a run for president by Hosni Mubarak's former intelligence chief and vice president, Omar Suleiman.
Suleiman announced his bid for the presidency Friday in Cairo after hundreds of supporters conducted a rally during which they called for him to run, Ahram Online reported.
"The revolution rejected him as vice president, and he still wants to run for president," said a statement Friday from the Freedom and Justice Party.
Mubarak was ousted after three decades as president and is on trial for allegedly ordering troops to kill protesters during last year's 18-day uprising, as well as corruption charges.
Moderate Islamist presidential candidate Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh also spoke out against Suleiman's candidacy via Twitter Friday.
"Our battle is that of revolution or no revolution. If those who negotiated on behalf of the revolutionaries' murderers pitch their bid for presidency, it insults those who have sacrificed their lives to put an end to the police state. Those who were able to bring down the head of a regime will know to how to remove its tails," Abul-Fotouh posted on Twitter.
Suleiman must collect 30,000 recommendation forms from citizens to officially run in Egypt's first presidential elections.
Meanwhile, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry's request for an extension in the period of registration for absentee voters has been accepted, BikyaMasr.com reported.
Absentee voters now have until April Wednesday to register to vote in the presidential election, scheduled for May 23-24, Foreign Ministry spokesman Amr Roshdy said.
Feds join hunt for Oklahoma spree killer
TULSA, Okla., April 7 (UPI) -- Federal law enforcement agencies have joined local ones in Tulsa, Okla., to investigate what may be a racially motivated killing spree, officials said Saturday.
Tulsa police Chief Chuck Jordan announced the formation of the task force, KRMG.com reported. He said "Operation Random Shooter" will include the FBI, the U.S. Marshals and the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office in addition to his department.
Five people were shot early Friday in four separate incidents in North Tulsa, and three of them died. All the victims were black, while police have said the killings appeared to have been carried out by a white man driving a pickup truck.
Homicide Detective Dave Walker said the victims did not appear to have known each other, the Tulsa World reported.
"There is no forensic evidence to link at this point," he said. "Timing and location lead us to believe they may be connected."
The NAACP Tulsa president, the Rev. Warren Blakney Sr., said Friday night "we're very concerned" that someone was evidently "targeting black people to shoot."
All of the victims, whose ages range from 31 to 54, were shot within minutes of each other in the same area of Tulsa, police said.
Tulsa police Capt. Jonathan Brooks told CNN investigators were trying to determine whether the shootings were hate crimes.
"We're not absolutely certain, but a hate crime is a possibility. And we'll go with where the investigation leads us," he said.
Russian protesters oppose NATO hub plan
MOSCOW, April 7 (UPI) -- Opponents of a plan to allow NATO to use a Russian airport for transporting soldiers and military cargo to and from Afghanistan protested in Moscow Saturday.
Communist Party supporters, carrying red flags and banners, joined left-wing activists at Pushkinskaya Square for the rally, RIA Novosti reported.
Opponents say the Kremlin's plan to allow NATO to set up a hub in the Volga region city of Ulyanovsk would undermine Russia's national security.
But Russian officials dismiss the concerns, saying no lethal cargo would be transported through the hub, which would be subject to customs checks.
Last month, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told lawmakers, "We are helping the coalition ... primarily out of our own national interest." He called the plan "a means to assist those who are eradicating the threats of terrorism and drug trafficking in Afghanistan."
