Tips lead to arrest in pharmacy heist

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Surveillance video and tips led to an arrest Thursday in an Albuquerque pharmacy robbery that took pill thievery to a new and pricey high.

James Tafoya, 42, was charged with the armed robbery that netted tens of thousands of dollars worth of narcotic painkillers.

Earlier this week KRQE News 13 broadcast security-camera video police credit with contributing to the arrest. Tafoya appeared in court today charged with armed robbery.

The video from the Nov. 3 heist shows a man police suspect is Tafoya entering the CVS/pharmacy store at 9600 Menaul Boulevard NE.

The man walks up to the pharmacy, starts asking the pharmacist questions and then pulls out a semiautomatic pistol. The pharmacist follows the gunman's orders to open the safe and fill a bag with the prescription drugs.

"Obviously this is not the first time that narcotics have been taken or a pharmacy has been robbed," Officer Tasia Martinez told KRQE news 13. "But seeing this quantity of drugs taken at one pharmacy is unique in itself."

Investigators estimate the robber took 82 bottles of oxycodone and OxyContin worth about $28,000, according to the criminal complaint.

Anonymous tips broke the case wide open, police said.

The first tip led to a woman who was allegedly with Tafoya during the robbery. A second tip came from someone who saw the video on the news and recognized Tafoya.

A check of Tafoya's criminal history revealed a long list of offenses, most of them property crimes, dating back to the early 1990s. Police also say he's a known gang member.