COVINGTON - A pharmacist at a Covington pharmacy was arrested Thursday for stealing prescription drugs.

Capt. David Hall with the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office Narcotics Division said the loss prevention team from CVS pharmacy contacted the Sheriff's Office after a large amount of its drug inventory turned up missing.

When the department learned the amount of drugs missing from the store, Hall said officers were concerned about recovering as much of the missing inventory as soon as possible.

Sheriff Jack Strain and Capt. David Hall discuss Gina Palermo's charges as they display the more than 2,000 pills they recovered from her home and vehicle. (Staff Photo by Suzanne Le Breton)

"We didn't want it to end up on the street," Hall said.

When brought in for questioning, Gina Palermo, 40, 615 Whitney Drive, Slidell, a licensed pharmacist employed by CVS at 627 West 21st Ave., Covington, confessed to taking the prescription drugs.

Sheriff Jack Strain said a search warrant was issued for Palermo's vehicle and home, and approximately 2,000 pills were found.

Also recovered were $1,811 and a firearm. A photograph of a large stack of bills wrapped in foil and hidden among bricks in the home was also found.

Hall said it has not been determined where the money came from or where it ended up.

Palermo's 2002 Toyota Highlander, where some of the drugs were found, was also seized during the investigation.

Strain said Palermo, who also uses her married name of Cihanger, "had a habit of helping herself to the store inventory."

Detectives also found prescriptions Palermo had issued to herself using her maiden name and vice versa.

Strain said it is unknown at this time if Palermo was feeding her own addiction or if she was selling the drugs for profit.

However, Hall said, it is hard to believe someone with this amount of drugs would not be selling them for profit.

He said the pills have a street value of between $2 and $4 a pill, with most averaging in the $4-5 range.

Hall said it is unknown exactly how many pills were taken as CVS is still reviewing inventory records to determine exactly how much is missing from the store. Hall said the Narcotics Task Force, made up of employees from the Sheriff's Office and Slidell Police Department, are also looking into the possibility that prior to coming to CVS approximately six months ago Palermo was employed as a pharmacist at Medicap Pharmacy, shut down by the Narcotics Task Force last year after the owner and a pharmacist were arrested for selling narcotics without prescriptions.

Palermo has been charged with theft and possession with intent to distribute schedule II and IV narcotics.

Strain commended the loss prevention team at CVS for contacting local law enforcement as soon as the discrepancy in inventory was detected.