A civil settlement to the tune of $3 million has been reached, effectively closing the investigation by the United States Department of Justice into Safeway grocery store chain. The cause of the investigation was the theft and consequent failure to report that theft, of pharmacy narcotics.

An investigation into the grocery giant Safeway began with pharmacies in Wasilla, back in April of 2014. The Drug Enforcement Administration investigators say the Wasilla location as well as a store in North Bend, Washington had failed to notify them for months that employees had stolen "tens of thousands of hydrocodone tablets."

According to U.S. law, pharmacies and other entities that provide narcotic-grade substances are required to notify the DEA of a theft or other "significant loss" within one business day of the missing drug discovery.

In a news statement released by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes said “As our community struggles with an epidemic of opioid abuse, we call on all participants in drug distribution to carefully monitor their practices to stem the flow of narcotics to those who should not have them."

“Pharmacies have a key role to play in making sure only those with legitimate prescriptions receive these powerful and potentially addictive drugs, including by timely reporting losses of those drugs. Failure to do so hamstrings DEA’s investigative abilities and frustrates some of our best methods at curbing abuse,” Hayes said.

Following the investigation that began in Wasilla, the DEA said the pills pilfered by employees there were only the tip of the iceberg, with later investigations revealing what they called "a widespread practice of Safeway pharmacies failing to timely report missing or stolen controlled substances."

Following the settlement reached on Tuesday, Special Agent Keith Weis with the DEA said he felt pleased with the outcome, saying, "At this crucial juncture in our efforts to combat abuses of prescription drugs, it is imperative that pharmacies notify DEA immediately when drugs are stolen or missing.

"A quick response to such reports is one of the best tools DEA has in stopping prescription drug diversion," Weis said.

The case was investigated by the DEA’s Seattle Field Office, DEA’s Drug Diversion and Regulatory Litigation Section and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington. The settlement agreement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Christina Fogg.