Operation Oxymoron targets painkiller and steroid dealers in New Jersey.

A Flemington man who owns an Edison pharmacy has been charged with leading a network that distributed thousands of illegal prescription drugs in Essex County, authorities said Wednesday.

Vincent Hsia, 50 is accused of using Lincoln Pharmacy on Route 27 to fill prescriptions for more than 45,000 oxycodone pills that were not prescribed by doctors. More than 20 other suspects also face state and federal charges in connection with the alleged network, which has operated since at least October 2007.

Investigators executed search warrants at Hsia's home, four other defendants' homes, Lincoln Pharmacy and two other businesses owned by Hsia: Sudz Wash & Fold in Somerville and Express Laundry World in Maplewood, authorities said. The searches netted three guns, oxycodone pills, fraudulent prescriptions and prescription blanks, anabolic steroids and more than $500,000 in cash.

"Vincent Hsia used his white lab coat and his pharmaceutical license to hide the true identity of his criminal acts," said John McCabe Jr., acting special agent in charge of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration New Jersey Division.