The annals of crime

I was reading some interviews a colleague in New York did with people with HIV and I came across something I hadn't heard about before -- crooked pharmacies that buy up antiretroviral drugs from street brokers. My friend sent me this article that lays out the whole thing. It talks about drug addicts who sell their meds, but the interviews also mention people sending money home to poor relatives in the Dominican Republic, or people who can't afford the rent.

Now for sure, one should never be surprised by the limitless prospects for human depravity. But it seems to me the police could stop this dead tomorrow if they wanted to. Do an undercover sale, bust the broker, get him to turn on the pharmacy, and Bob's your uncle. Put two or three of those pharmacists out of business and in the joint, and the rest of them will get the message right away. It's not like narcotics dealing where the market is bottomless: there couldn't be more than a couple of dozen scumbags on the buying end. Any New Yorkers want to yell and scream at the Mayor about this? Of course, it's only killing junkies and desperate poor people, so who really cares?