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NYPD cops bust up open-air prescription pill market, sending dealers running with their stashes

amedpost
Last updated: July 22, 2026 4:26 pm
amedpost
Published: July 22, 2026
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Pill Street Blues is canceled.

NYPD cops busted up an open-air prescription drug market in Washington Heights Tuesday — days after an exclusive Post exposé revealed brazen dealers publicly peddling meds with impunity.

At least six police cars swarmed the sprawling street pharmacy along West 181st Street, sending pill peddlers running with their stashes.


Street vendors sell various products under colorful umbrellas at the corner of 181st Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue in New York City.
NYPD cops raided the open-air prescription drug market in Washington Heights that was featured in a Post exposé. J.C. Rice for NY Post

“Why are they doing that?” one passerby asked.

“Because they are not paying their taxes,” another joked.

The pill market was featured in a Post exposé Saturday detailing how nearly two dozen vendors sold an assortment of medications — from painkillers to erectile dysfunction drugs to antibiotics — across 10 square blocks between West 179th to West 183rd streets and St. Nicholas Avenue.

Dealers continued to sell as storm clouds gathered Tuesday, with local resident Carlos Martinez waving off the bazaar as nothing new.

“They have the same things on the street and on the pharmacy,” he said.


A man in a red striped shirt and denim shorts stands looking to the right.
Several police cars made their way towards West 181st Street, sending pill peddlers escaping with their stashes. Georgett Roberts

One dealer hawked pills and cream variously from Honduras and the Dominican Republic for $5, much lower than the prices listed on the bottles, which were as high as $30.

Another sold vitamins from Walgreens and CVS, in addition to other items he said were from Africa.

The pills-for-all came to a sudden halt as someone ran up West 181st Street near Wadsworth Avenue shouting in Spanish, “Police! Police!”

One man bundled most of wares in a sheet, tied it up and threw it on the sidewalk. Other vendors ran as cops swarmed.

The police officers hauled the remaining goods — merchandise, milk crates, umbrellas and folding chairs — and tossed them into a sanitation truck.

One worker from a nearby store came out to watch. 

“They could kill people,” she said, referring to the pills.



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