CENTREVILLE &045; Police say thieves disabled an alarm system before breaking into Fred’s Pharmacy on the Highway 24 bypass and making away with a supply of Schedule II narcotics, including the powerful painkiller OxyContin.

Employees discovered the burglary when the store opened at 7 a.m. Friday, said Centreville Police Chief Jimmy Ray Reese.

&uot;They cut the telephone lines, and that killed the alarm system,&uot; said Reese, adding the burglars entered by peeling back sheet metal siding on one end of the building.

Reese said the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, the Mississippi Highway Patrol and law enforcement agencies from Louisiana were involved in the investigation. &uot;We have been busy collecting evidence from the scene,&uot; said Reese, who believes the incident to be the first burglary of a pharmacy in Centreville in more than 20 years.

Reese confirmed OxyContin was among the Schedule II narcotics missing from the drug store but said he was unsure how many dosage units or types of drugs were stolen. Oxycontin contains oxycodone, which is derived from an opium alkaloid and prescribed to control moderate to severe pain.

OxyContin is commonly targeted by drug abusers and can be highly addictive.

Anyone who may have information about the burglary is asked to contact the Centreville Police Department at (601)-645-5917.