Ghoul
Well-known Member
A fascinating look into "online pharmacies" and how fentanyl pill mills put India pharma under scrutiny lately:
MESO-Rx
Anabolic Steroids
Why your dick pills got seized this summer
- Thread starter Ghoul
- Start date
AdamAnt250
New Member
Is there a tl;dr version?
readalot
Member
Ghoul, you would buy someone a new car and they'd complain the color was all wrong or the trunk was too damn big. "This ain't going to fit in my garage."
Ghoul
Well-known Member
Essentially, a big network of drug dealer pill mills (fake Oxy made with fentanyl, fake Adderall made with meth), set up fake online pharmacies selling all kinds of medicine, most of which came from one guy who had them sent via the mail from India, and mixed their fentanyl and meth pills in with the other stuff. This made them seem like legit pharmacies and people assumed drugs like the oxy pills were real.
On top of all the "regular" India meds the "Indian connection" guy brought in, he also had real generic Oxy and Adderall sent from India via mail in small packages.
Customers were offered "samples" of the real Oxy and Adderall, then the orders were filled with the fake stuff. A bunch of people ODd.
View: https://www.youtube.com/live/y_AX_a-SefU
Ghoul
Well-known Member
@Spaceman Spiff
Your question disappeared but here you go:
Only adderall and oxy were "pill mill" drugs. Everything else being offered was India pharma.
In LE lingo, in this context, "fake pills" mean Oxy made with fentanyl and Adderall made with meth, "counterfeit pills" mean India pharma meds not approved by the FDA, for sale in the US, even though they're legit meds.
They weren't prosecuting anyone for selling "counterfeit" viagra, ambien, or valium, all India pharma in blister packs, even though they were selling those. Small beans compared to the rest of the charges. Because people died, all 18 defendants are 20 year minimums, max life.
Your question disappeared but here you go:
Only adderall and oxy were "pill mill" drugs. Everything else being offered was India pharma.
In LE lingo, in this context, "fake pills" mean Oxy made with fentanyl and Adderall made with meth, "counterfeit pills" mean India pharma meds not approved by the FDA, for sale in the US, even though they're legit meds.
They weren't prosecuting anyone for selling "counterfeit" viagra, ambien, or valium, all India pharma in blister packs, even though they were selling those. Small beans compared to the rest of the charges. Because people died, all 18 defendants are 20 year minimums, max life.
roofer22
Well-known Member
Seems a bit off. Why wouldn't they just steal the money? Why give paying people anything at all unless you just want to kill people?
Press Release
Monday, September 30, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
Francisco Alberto Lopez Reyes, a/k/a “Frank,” Led Scheme that Sold Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Pills to Tens of Thousands of Unsuspecting Victims Across the Country and Caused Numerous Victims Injury and Death
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Katrina W. Berger, the Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”); Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”); William S. Walker, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of HSI; Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the DEA; and Daniel B. Brubaker, the Inspector in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced today the unsealing of charges against FRANCISCO ALBERTO LOPEZ REYES, a/k/a “Frank,” and 17 other defendants located in the United States, Dominican Republic, and India for their involvement in a scheme to advertise, sell, manufacture, and ship millions of deadly pills disguised as legitimate pharmaceuticals. These counterfeit pills were purchased by tens of thousands of victims from fake online pharmacies run by LOPEZ REYES and his co-conspirators. At least nine of those victims later died of narcotics poisoning. Federal authorities have seized nine website domains used by the defendants and their co-conspirators to sell counterfeit pills, four of which are named in the Indictment. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan.
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: “The 18 defendants in this case operated a sophisticated network of fake online pharmacies and pill mills in India, the Dominican Republic, and the United States that preyed on Americans who believed they were purchasing legitimate medications from legitimate pharmacies. The defendants exploited the online pharmacy market to sell counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine to unsuspecting victims. These individuals sold millions of dangerous fake pills to victims in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. The defendants did this to make money by driving addiction with deadly, highly-addictive fentanyl. The DEA is relentlessly focused on saving lives by finding these criminal networks and shutting them down.”
HSI Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker said: “In just the last few months, Homeland Security Investigations agents, analysts, and task force officers in New York City have intercepted hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and other deadly narcotics. Investigators uncovered illicit clandestine drug labs operating in residential basements, and seized fentanyl from parcel facilities where day-to-day mail is processed. We further uncovered strategies allegedly used by those who deal death to exploit parcel systems in furtherance their illegal enterprise. HSI is on the frontlines of the fentanyl epidemic, doing everything in our power to prevent the deadly narcotic from reaching just one more victim. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with grieving families who were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones too soon.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said: “Over the past year, our DEA New York team, along with our law enforcement partners, targeted those individuals involved in the operation of illegal pill mills in the Bronx and Manhattan, producing deadly fake pills made up of fentanyl and methamphetamine. This investigation demonstrates the complexity and global influence that predatory drug trafficking organizations have on our communities, families, and young people; many times, leaving a trail of devastation in its path.”
USPIS Inspector in Charge Daniel B. Brubaker said: “We are proud to be working with our law enforcement partners on this impactful case. These arrests represent the progress we have made to disrupt and ultimately dismantle this illegal narcotics distribution network. The defendants allegedly took advantage of the online pharmaceutical space and preyed upon innocent victims who were in need of medication, people suffering with legitimate ailments. Postal Inspectors will constantly be vigilant in this fight against fentanyl and all illicit drugs, to preserve the integrity of the mail and most importantly to keep our employees and the American public safe.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment:[1]
The proliferation of unregulated online pharmacies has fueled the nation’s fentanyl epidemic, enabling drug traffickers to peddle direct-to-consumer counterfeit pharmaceuticals, which are devoid of the medication they purport to contain and are instead comprised of deadly narcotics like fentanyl and its analogues.
For at least the last two and a half years, a network of individuals located in the U.S., the Dominican Republic, India, and elsewhere have exploited Americans’ reliance on online pharmacies by advertising, selling, manufacturing, and shipping through the mail millions of unregulated counterfeit prescription pills to tens of thousands of victims. Instead of prescription drugs at a bargain, what customers actually received were phony pills made of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl—an analogue of fentanyl—and methamphetamine. Shaped, dyed, and stamped to be indistinguishable from actual prescription medication, these tablets were in fact manufactured by the defendants in industrial-scale milling facilities, or pill mills, located in the basements of several residential buildings in, among other places, Manhattan and the Bronx, New York.
As part of this scheme, the defendants shipped counterfeit pharmaceuticals to victims across the United States and around the world, including in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Germany, and Slovenia. The victims of this criminal enterprise range in age from at least 23 to 77 years old. They include veterans, doctors, lawyers, musicians, artists, politicians, economists, restaurant managers, personal trainers, dancers, former schoolteachers, administrative executives, and first responders, among others.
Between in or about August 2023 and in or about June 2024, at least nine victims—all of whom purchased counterfeit prescription pills from the defendants—died of narcotics poisoning. One victim, Victim-1, a 45-year-old woman, was a veteran who had served for 12 years in the U.S. Army National Guard. Victim-1 believed she was purchasing 30-milligram oxycodone, also known as “M30s,” from the defendants’ online pharmacy, but the pills were, in fact, made of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl. After receiving the pills, Victim-1 conducted research to attempt to learn whether the pills were genuine, but, because the defendants made the pills look real, Victim-1 was unable to tell the difference. Five days after receiving counterfeit oxycodone pills advertised, sold, manufactured, and shipped by the defendants, Victim-1 died from acute fentanyl intoxication. The fake oxycodone pills that killed Victim-1, which were recovered from her bedside, are pictured below:
LOPEZ REYES led the enterprise, orchestrating and controlling every facet of the scheme from the Dominican Republic. With his co-conspirators, LOPEZ REYES set up dozens of online pharmacy websites, designed to appear legitimate in order to lure customers into buying, at reduced prices, tablets of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and methamphetamine disguised as real prescription medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall, and Xanax, among others. LOPEZ REYES also relied on others, including SADIQ ABBAS HABIB SAYYED, a/k/a “Rakesh Sharma,” a/k/a “Jonathan Acosta,” KHIZAR MOHAMMAD IQBAL SHAIKH, and ALBA GONZALEZ to sell counterfeit pills to Americans over the internet and through encrypted messaging platforms. The homepage of one such website, Curecog.com (“Curecog”), is pictured below. Curecog purported to be a “US-based online pharma store” that was “approved” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), which “serve affordable medicines . . . approved by specialists and manufactured by trusted brands.” Curecog, however, was neither legitimate nor FDA approved. Instead, Curecog was a fraudulent storefront that peddled the defendants’ controlled substances, including fentanyl.
To fulfill pill orders, LOPEZ REYES enlisted JUAN EFREN PAULINO, a/k/a “Freddy,” and JUAN MOISES PEREZ MENDEZ, a/k/a “Caballero,” as his principal lieutenants to oversee the operation of multiple pill mills in New York City. At those pill mills, workers used dyes with specific colors and specialized equipment with custom molds to press powdered narcotics so as to mimic the color, shape, size, and markings of commercially manufactured prescription pills, at rates of up to 100,000 pills every 12 hours. Law enforcement raided at least three of these pill mills and two other narcotics storage locations, seizing approximately 625,000 counterfeit pills—the majority of which contained fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and/or methamphetamine—10 industrial pill presses, commercial mixers, industrial-grade gas masks, and more. At these facilities, law enforcement also seized staggering quantities of not yet processed narcotics. In total, law enforcement seized approximately 255 pounds of para-fluorofentanyl, 100 pounds of fentanyl, and 215 pounds of methamphetamine, in pill, powder, and crystal form. Each of these seizures were a mere snapshot in time, representing only a single day’s working supply at these pill mills and storage locations. Multiple defendants—including EFREN PAULINO, PEREZ MENDEZ, WELLINGTON EUSTATE ESPINAL, a/k/a “Roni,” HERIBERTO EUSTATE ESPINAL, a/k/a “Daulin,” EUSEBIO PERALTA BAUTISTA, a/k/a “Luis Collazo Santos,” HECTOR BIENVENIDO FELIZ FELIZ, a/k/a “Tacoma,” and LUIS PAULINO—worked at these pill mills day and night. A photograph of the over 190,000 pills seized from just one of the defendants’ pill mills is pictured below:
After the defendants manufactured the counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, a network of shippers, including MIGUEL CONCEPCION BRITO, CYNTHIA ONEGA, EDWARD EUSTATE JIMENEZ, a/k/a “Chino,” ROBERT JUNIOR RAMOS HENRIQUEZ, a/k/a “Junior,” a/k/a “Kiko,” JOSE CONCEPCION BRITO, ANGEL VALDEZ BRITO, and WILIANYI ALMANZAR POLANCO, packaged and mailed the pills to customers across the country at the direction of LOPEZ REYES, who specified to whom and where to ship particular types and quantities of pills. After orders were delivered, the defendants and their co-conspirators bombarded customers with aggressive and manipulative marketing tactics to pressure their victims to order more illegal pills, including by providing unsolicited free samples via mail of counterfeit pills containing addictive and deadly fentanyl and near-daily outreach by phone call or text message. One victim had to block up to 30 phone numbers in an effort to stop the harassment.
Information about safe, legal internet pharmacies is available. According to the FDA, a safe, legal internet pharmacy:
* * *
A chart containing the charges and minimum and maximum penalties each defendant faces is attached.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the El Dorado Task Force International Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit, which is comprised of law enforcement officers and investigators from the DEA, HSI, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police, the USPIS, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office; the New York City Border Enforcement Security Task Force Contraband Group; the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ (“OCDETF”) New York Strike Force; the USPIS New York Division Contraband Interdiction and Investigations Team; HSI New York; and the DEA New York Field Division. Mr. Williams also thanked HSI Santo Domingo, the DEA Dominican Republic Country Office, the U.S. Marshals Service Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their assistance.
The OCDETF New York Strike Force provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the New York Strike Force is to target, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, reduce the illegal drug supply in the U.S., and bring criminals to justice. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maggie Lynaugh, Adam Sowlati, Chelsea Scism, Katherine Cheng, Camille Fletcher, and Lisa Daniels are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against 18 Defendants In Scheme To Manufacture And Distribute Millions Of Deadly Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals Through Fake Online Pharmacies
U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against 18 Defendants In Scheme To Manufacture And Distribute Millions Of Deadly Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals Through Fake Online Pharmacies
Monday, September 30, 2024
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York
Francisco Alberto Lopez Reyes, a/k/a “Frank,” Led Scheme that Sold Fentanyl and Methamphetamine Pills to Tens of Thousands of Unsuspecting Victims Across the Country and Caused Numerous Victims Injury and Death
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York; Katrina W. Berger, the Executive Associate Director of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”); Anne Milgram, the Administrator of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”); William S. Walker, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of HSI; Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the DEA; and Daniel B. Brubaker, the Inspector in Charge of the New York Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (“USPIS”), announced today the unsealing of charges against FRANCISCO ALBERTO LOPEZ REYES, a/k/a “Frank,” and 17 other defendants located in the United States, Dominican Republic, and India for their involvement in a scheme to advertise, sell, manufacture, and ship millions of deadly pills disguised as legitimate pharmaceuticals. These counterfeit pills were purchased by tens of thousands of victims from fake online pharmacies run by LOPEZ REYES and his co-conspirators. At least nine of those victims later died of narcotics poisoning. Federal authorities have seized nine website domains used by the defendants and their co-conspirators to sell counterfeit pills, four of which are named in the Indictment. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge John P. Cronan.
HSI Executive Associate Director Katrina W. Berger said: “Trafficking counterfeit pharmaceuticals is not just a crime; it is a threat to public health. HSI is committed to working with our partners to stop those who poison our neighborhoods for the sake of profit.”
DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said: “The 18 defendants in this case operated a sophisticated network of fake online pharmacies and pill mills in India, the Dominican Republic, and the United States that preyed on Americans who believed they were purchasing legitimate medications from legitimate pharmacies. The defendants exploited the online pharmacy market to sell counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl and methamphetamine to unsuspecting victims. These individuals sold millions of dangerous fake pills to victims in every U.S. state and the District of Columbia. The defendants did this to make money by driving addiction with deadly, highly-addictive fentanyl. The DEA is relentlessly focused on saving lives by finding these criminal networks and shutting them down.”
HSI Special Agent in Charge William S. Walker said: “In just the last few months, Homeland Security Investigations agents, analysts, and task force officers in New York City have intercepted hundreds of pounds of fentanyl and other deadly narcotics. Investigators uncovered illicit clandestine drug labs operating in residential basements, and seized fentanyl from parcel facilities where day-to-day mail is processed. We further uncovered strategies allegedly used by those who deal death to exploit parcel systems in furtherance their illegal enterprise. HSI is on the frontlines of the fentanyl epidemic, doing everything in our power to prevent the deadly narcotic from reaching just one more victim. We stand shoulder-to-shoulder with grieving families who were forced to say goodbye to their loved ones too soon.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said: “Over the past year, our DEA New York team, along with our law enforcement partners, targeted those individuals involved in the operation of illegal pill mills in the Bronx and Manhattan, producing deadly fake pills made up of fentanyl and methamphetamine. This investigation demonstrates the complexity and global influence that predatory drug trafficking organizations have on our communities, families, and young people; many times, leaving a trail of devastation in its path.”
USPIS Inspector in Charge Daniel B. Brubaker said: “We are proud to be working with our law enforcement partners on this impactful case. These arrests represent the progress we have made to disrupt and ultimately dismantle this illegal narcotics distribution network. The defendants allegedly took advantage of the online pharmaceutical space and preyed upon innocent victims who were in need of medication, people suffering with legitimate ailments. Postal Inspectors will constantly be vigilant in this fight against fentanyl and all illicit drugs, to preserve the integrity of the mail and most importantly to keep our employees and the American public safe.”
According to the allegations contained in the Indictment:[1]
The proliferation of unregulated online pharmacies has fueled the nation’s fentanyl epidemic, enabling drug traffickers to peddle direct-to-consumer counterfeit pharmaceuticals, which are devoid of the medication they purport to contain and are instead comprised of deadly narcotics like fentanyl and its analogues.
For at least the last two and a half years, a network of individuals located in the U.S., the Dominican Republic, India, and elsewhere have exploited Americans’ reliance on online pharmacies by advertising, selling, manufacturing, and shipping through the mail millions of unregulated counterfeit prescription pills to tens of thousands of victims. Instead of prescription drugs at a bargain, what customers actually received were phony pills made of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl—an analogue of fentanyl—and methamphetamine. Shaped, dyed, and stamped to be indistinguishable from actual prescription medication, these tablets were in fact manufactured by the defendants in industrial-scale milling facilities, or pill mills, located in the basements of several residential buildings in, among other places, Manhattan and the Bronx, New York.
As part of this scheme, the defendants shipped counterfeit pharmaceuticals to victims across the United States and around the world, including in all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C., the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Germany, and Slovenia. The victims of this criminal enterprise range in age from at least 23 to 77 years old. They include veterans, doctors, lawyers, musicians, artists, politicians, economists, restaurant managers, personal trainers, dancers, former schoolteachers, administrative executives, and first responders, among others.
Between in or about August 2023 and in or about June 2024, at least nine victims—all of whom purchased counterfeit prescription pills from the defendants—died of narcotics poisoning. One victim, Victim-1, a 45-year-old woman, was a veteran who had served for 12 years in the U.S. Army National Guard. Victim-1 believed she was purchasing 30-milligram oxycodone, also known as “M30s,” from the defendants’ online pharmacy, but the pills were, in fact, made of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl. After receiving the pills, Victim-1 conducted research to attempt to learn whether the pills were genuine, but, because the defendants made the pills look real, Victim-1 was unable to tell the difference. Five days after receiving counterfeit oxycodone pills advertised, sold, manufactured, and shipped by the defendants, Victim-1 died from acute fentanyl intoxication. The fake oxycodone pills that killed Victim-1, which were recovered from her bedside, are pictured below:
LOPEZ REYES led the enterprise, orchestrating and controlling every facet of the scheme from the Dominican Republic. With his co-conspirators, LOPEZ REYES set up dozens of online pharmacy websites, designed to appear legitimate in order to lure customers into buying, at reduced prices, tablets of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and methamphetamine disguised as real prescription medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall, and Xanax, among others. LOPEZ REYES also relied on others, including SADIQ ABBAS HABIB SAYYED, a/k/a “Rakesh Sharma,” a/k/a “Jonathan Acosta,” KHIZAR MOHAMMAD IQBAL SHAIKH, and ALBA GONZALEZ to sell counterfeit pills to Americans over the internet and through encrypted messaging platforms. The homepage of one such website, Curecog.com (“Curecog”), is pictured below. Curecog purported to be a “US-based online pharma store” that was “approved” by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”), which “serve affordable medicines . . . approved by specialists and manufactured by trusted brands.” Curecog, however, was neither legitimate nor FDA approved. Instead, Curecog was a fraudulent storefront that peddled the defendants’ controlled substances, including fentanyl.
To fulfill pill orders, LOPEZ REYES enlisted JUAN EFREN PAULINO, a/k/a “Freddy,” and JUAN MOISES PEREZ MENDEZ, a/k/a “Caballero,” as his principal lieutenants to oversee the operation of multiple pill mills in New York City. At those pill mills, workers used dyes with specific colors and specialized equipment with custom molds to press powdered narcotics so as to mimic the color, shape, size, and markings of commercially manufactured prescription pills, at rates of up to 100,000 pills every 12 hours. Law enforcement raided at least three of these pill mills and two other narcotics storage locations, seizing approximately 625,000 counterfeit pills—the majority of which contained fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and/or methamphetamine—10 industrial pill presses, commercial mixers, industrial-grade gas masks, and more. At these facilities, law enforcement also seized staggering quantities of not yet processed narcotics. In total, law enforcement seized approximately 255 pounds of para-fluorofentanyl, 100 pounds of fentanyl, and 215 pounds of methamphetamine, in pill, powder, and crystal form. Each of these seizures were a mere snapshot in time, representing only a single day’s working supply at these pill mills and storage locations. Multiple defendants—including EFREN PAULINO, PEREZ MENDEZ, WELLINGTON EUSTATE ESPINAL, a/k/a “Roni,” HERIBERTO EUSTATE ESPINAL, a/k/a “Daulin,” EUSEBIO PERALTA BAUTISTA, a/k/a “Luis Collazo Santos,” HECTOR BIENVENIDO FELIZ FELIZ, a/k/a “Tacoma,” and LUIS PAULINO—worked at these pill mills day and night. A photograph of the over 190,000 pills seized from just one of the defendants’ pill mills is pictured below:
After the defendants manufactured the counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and methamphetamine, a network of shippers, including MIGUEL CONCEPCION BRITO, CYNTHIA ONEGA, EDWARD EUSTATE JIMENEZ, a/k/a “Chino,” ROBERT JUNIOR RAMOS HENRIQUEZ, a/k/a “Junior,” a/k/a “Kiko,” JOSE CONCEPCION BRITO, ANGEL VALDEZ BRITO, and WILIANYI ALMANZAR POLANCO, packaged and mailed the pills to customers across the country at the direction of LOPEZ REYES, who specified to whom and where to ship particular types and quantities of pills. After orders were delivered, the defendants and their co-conspirators bombarded customers with aggressive and manipulative marketing tactics to pressure their victims to order more illegal pills, including by providing unsolicited free samples via mail of counterfeit pills containing addictive and deadly fentanyl and near-daily outreach by phone call or text message. One victim had to block up to 30 phone numbers in an effort to stop the harassment.
Information about safe, legal internet pharmacies is available. According to the FDA, a safe, legal internet pharmacy:
- always requires a doctor’s prescription;
- has a physical address and telephone number in the United States;
- is licensed in the state(s) in which they are operating;
- is licensed in all states in which they do business; and
- has a state-licensed pharmacist on staff to answer patient questions.
* * *
A chart containing the charges and minimum and maximum penalties each defendant faces is attached.
The statutory minimum and maximum penalties are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendants will be determined by a judge.
Mr. Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the El Dorado Task Force International Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit, which is comprised of law enforcement officers and investigators from the DEA, HSI, the New York City Police Department, the New York State Police, the USPIS, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Kings County District Attorney’s Office; the New York City Border Enforcement Security Task Force Contraband Group; the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces’ (“OCDETF”) New York Strike Force; the USPIS New York Division Contraband Interdiction and Investigations Team; HSI New York; and the DEA New York Field Division. Mr. Williams also thanked HSI Santo Domingo, the DEA Dominican Republic Country Office, the U.S. Marshals Service Dominican Republic Foreign Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs for their assistance.
The OCDETF New York Strike Force provides for the establishment of permanent multi-agency task force teams that work side-by-side in the same location. This co-located model enables agents from different agencies to collaborate on intelligence-driven, multi-jurisdictional operations to disrupt and dismantle the most significant drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations. The specific mission of the New York Strike Force is to target, disrupt, and dismantle drug trafficking and money laundering organizations, reduce the illegal drug supply in the U.S., and bring criminals to justice. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maggie Lynaugh, Adam Sowlati, Chelsea Scism, Katherine Cheng, Camille Fletcher, and Lisa Daniels are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Attorney Announces Charges Against 18 Defendants In Scheme To Manufacture And Distribute Millions Of Deadly Counterfeit Pharmaceuticals Through Fake Online Pharmacies
roofer22
Well-known Member
I read that wrong. I missed the oxy part. Thought it was fake dick pills. Makes more sense now.
Ghoul
Well-known Member
DEA released a statement making the recent "online pharmacy" issue a little
clearer.
What's more interesting to me is the study they link to at the bottom of the news release about how the pandemic really ignited the whole "India pharma" business, and at the bottom, there are two excel spreadsheets taking a close look at some of the largest players and what they sell, along with another spreadsheet of the biggest selling categories of meds from these suppliers::
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Finally, it appears the annual Interpol crackdown on unauthorized pharmacies, "Pangea", is in action again, having affected QSC in Europe. I didn't even know this was a thing, but it seems to be getting bigger every year. No report on this year's operation yet.
www.interpol.int
With custom's tech capabilities catching up fast, and government's will to control imports stronger than ever before because of all the revenue lost to small packages of cheap Chinese imports, I strongly suspect it's only a matter of time before we'll have to buy black market antibiotics and Cialis from ever shadier back street suppliers.
If you're in the US, your best bet is really to just find a cooperative online doctor, get a prescription for whatever you need, and buy with GoodRx from a pharmacy. It's nearly as cheap (sometimes cheaper), it's safer to use FDA approved meds (though I think India pharma is reasonably safe), and once you have an initial prescription for anything, it's usually very easy to get a refill from any doctor going forward
clearer.
What's more interesting to me is the study they link to at the bottom of the news release about how the pandemic really ignited the whole "India pharma" business, and at the bottom, there are two excel spreadsheets taking a close look at some of the largest players and what they sell, along with another spreadsheet of the biggest selling categories of meds from these suppliers::
The characteristics and operations of “online pharmacies” investigated in relation to medicines popularised during the coronavirus pandemic: a cross-sectional study - PMC
Aim: To explore the characteristics and operations of online pharmacies in relation to medications that gained widespread popularity and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, to assess and compare practices between legitimate ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
Finally, it appears the annual Interpol crackdown on unauthorized pharmacies, "Pangea", is in action again, having affected QSC in Europe. I didn't even know this was a thing, but it seems to be getting bigger every year. No report on this year's operation yet.
Global illicit medicines targeted by INTERPOL operation
Taking down the transnational crime groups threatening consumer safety
With custom's tech capabilities catching up fast, and government's will to control imports stronger than ever before because of all the revenue lost to small packages of cheap Chinese imports, I strongly suspect it's only a matter of time before we'll have to buy black market antibiotics and Cialis from ever shadier back street suppliers.
If you're in the US, your best bet is really to just find a cooperative online doctor, get a prescription for whatever you need, and buy with GoodRx from a pharmacy. It's nearly as cheap (sometimes cheaper), it's safer to use FDA approved meds (though I think India pharma is reasonably safe), and once you have an initial prescription for anything, it's usually very easy to get a refill from any doctor going forward
Last edited:
iris
Well-known Member
DEA released a statement making the recent "online pharmacy" issue a little
clearer.
What's more interesting to me is the study they link to at the bottom of the news release about how the pandemic really ignited the whole "India pharma" business, and at the bottom, there are two excel spreadsheets taking a close look at some of the largest players and what they sell, along with another spreadsheet of the biggest selling categories of meds from these suppliers::
The characteristics and operations of “online pharmacies” investigated in relation to medicines popularised during the coronavirus pandemic: a cross-sectional study - PMC
Aim: To explore the characteristics and operations of online pharmacies in relation to medications that gained widespread popularity and increased demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, to assess and compare practices between legitimate ...
Finally, it appears the annual Interpol crackdown on unauthorized pharmacies, "Pangea", is in action again, having affected QSC in Europe. I didn't even know this was a thing, but it seems to be getting bigger every year. No report on this year's operation yet.
Global illicit medicines targeted by INTERPOL operation
Taking down the transnational crime groups threatening consumer safety
With custom's tech capabilities catching up fast, and government's will to control imports stronger than ever before because of all the revenue lost to small packages of cheap Chinese imports, I strongly suspect it's only a matter of time before we'll have to buy black market antibiotics and Cialis from ever shadier back street suppliers.
Yep, the pangea operation is alive and well all over Europe.
I first heard about it during covid.
Here, numerous online pharmacies were shut down and, more recently, they seized loads of prescription meds (the kind of stuff we buy from pct24x7).
They went to say hello to Tracy, too, recently, from what he wrote on his thread.
Good morning.
How are you, Ghoul?
Ghoul
Well-known Member
The primary obstacle is a prescription. Cialis may be the easiest, though not easy with every practitioner, but try telling your doc you want Telmisartin to manage your on cycle BP or Aromasin to keep E2 down. That's gong to be more challenging. Not impossible of course. There is a universe of online providers for pretty much any prescription you need. Once you get it the first time though, holding up the labeled bottle on a webcam tends to remove any resistance to refill from online docs.
There are docs who'll write 20+ prescriptions to fill your "emergency doomsday medicine" kits, for a price.
true, i can see that with ARB or AI. but cialis most docs give easy, never had issue with cialis. depends on your location, i have very good success with onemedical/amazon. once you establish a physical relationship with a doc they virtually (prob depends on doc too) give you everything, outside of AAS
Zebedee
Well-known Member
Cough cough …..
Ghoul
Well-known Member
Spare me, I'm not relitigating this issue with someone who's done little to no research on this issue. Cheap, small scale CT scanners are now eliminating the need to remove liquids from carry on luggage because they've progressed to the point they can accurately distinguish over 100 prohibited liquids, few having anything in common with each other, from benign ones. That's a vote of confidence backed by hundreds of lives on the line for every flight.
Customs using infinitely more sophisticated, multi-million dollar equipment in mail processing centers, the recent establishment of a uniform, internationally exchanged data standard of contraband "signatures" to enable AI to use shortcuts for near instantaneous precision recognition, despite differences in hardware, and the aforementioned desire perhaps not for safety as much as identification for imposing duties in a rapid, accurate, automated way, tells any thinking person where this is going.
Zebedee
Well-known Member
I’m not asking you to “regurgitate” anything.
I’m asking you to post actual evidence to support your oft repeated claims that US customs have began employing (or have announced they will be doing so) the new tech.
Posting a link to such evidence would have been far quicker than typing out your opinions in your post & would be an end to the issue - “Ghoul was right all along”.
Ateam2023
Well-known Member
I think it's obvious that they "will use the new tech"to combat the opioid crisis, etc. Why wouldn't they?
malfeasance
Well-known Member
Do we really need to drag that thread into this one?
This seems to be a good and informative thread all on its own.
Maybe consider confining your comments to the India pharmacy thing being discussed in the original post and some of the related developments in crackdowns on international pharmacies.
Kinda agree with Zebedee though.. lol Pangea happens almost every year and they always bust imports, warehouses and labs. It's not as if they got some special new tech (which is always advancing anyway), but this is constant. The EU has also been wary about competition and counterfeit stuff from china. They didn't use tech this year. They simply used bargaining. Aliexpress was one of the sponspors for Euros, and in return, counterfeit Jerseys became non existent on Aliexpress and many Larger platforms like Temu. One had to seek out smaller scam prone sellers.. I digress..
iris
Well-known Member
Yes, his post was not about Pangea. Fair enough.
However, Zebedee only had a "coughing fit" on this thread because Ghoul had been unresponsive to him, on the other thread you guys are referring to.
In fact, I believe he asked him the same question on the Qsc thread, too, when something about shipping was being discussed (iirc).
I am sure Zeb agrees with your sentiment, but as soon as a bit of Ghoul action was spotted, carpe diem
@Zebedee
However, Zebedee only had a "coughing fit" on this thread because Ghoul had been unresponsive to him, on the other thread you guys are referring to.
In fact, I believe he asked him the same question on the Qsc thread, too, when something about shipping was being discussed (iirc).
I am sure Zeb agrees with your sentiment, but as soon as a bit of Ghoul action was spotted, carpe diem
@Zebedee
Similar threads
