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A Staunton man who worked at the Fishersville UPS facility was arrested Thursday on dozens of drug charges stemming from the theft of parcels mailed from U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs pharmacies. Police say Schuylar A. Lotts, 22, stole 3,500 oxycodone tablets — the generic version of the brand name narcotic painkiller Percocet.

Oxycodone is the active opioid ingredient in the medication. The pills were supposed to go to 37 patients who had been prescribed the medication, presumably for chronic pain. Oxycodone is often abused by drug users seeking the euphoric high the pills produce in addicts. The high is similar to that produced by heroin, another opioid drug that, unlike oxycodone, has no authorized medicinal use.

Lotts was arrested following a joint federal, state and local law enforcement investigation. Virginia State Police Spokeswoman Corinne Geller said the investigation was started in November.

Lotts, who was being held Friday at Middle River Regional Jail in Verona, is charged with 37 misdemeanor counts of petit larceny, 37 counts of possession of a schedule II narcotic, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute a schedule I or II narcotic.

Police began the investigation after numerous parcels from Veterans Affairs pharmacies in West Virginia and Virginia that were supposed to be going to patients in central Virginia had gone missing. Investigators narrowed down the location where the medication went missing from, and determined the parcels had been “compromised” by Lotts.

The investigation revealed that Lotts, an employee with UPS in Fishersville, was responsible for the theft of the oxycodone tablets, which had a street of about $35,000.

The case was investigated by the Skyline Drug Task Force. The task force is composed of the Augusta County Sheriff’s Office, the Waynesboro Police Department, the Staunton Police Department, the Nelson County Sheriff’s Department and the Virginia State Police.

Also involved were the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Police Department, The Buena Vista Police Department and the United Parcel Service Security Division.

The investigation is ongoing, according to the Virginia State Police.