Suburban Chicago Businessman Arrested in Alleged Fake Drug Importation Ring
A suburban Chicago resident has been charged with unlawful possession of 20,000 counterfeit Valium and 20,000 counterfeit Xanax.
Who: Cook County Sheriff’s Office.
When: December 13th, 2010; 2010
Where: Chicago, Illinois, USA.
How: Investigation by Cook County Sherriff’s Office, FDA, and US Customs.
Additional details: Computer business owner, Amin Rupani, has been charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance, reports the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, after a joint investigation into his alleged activities by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Customs and Border Patrol.
A package being shipped to Mr. Rupani was originally detained at customs after being identified as counterfeit valium, at which point a tracking device was attached to it by law enforcement agents. The package was delivered to Rupani’s office and once officers received a radio transmission signifying that the package had been opened, local sheriffs, FDA and Customs agents entered the business and arrested Rupani.
Rupani allegedly told investigators that the package he received contained vitamins and weight loss medications. Forensic testing however indicated that Valium was the active ingredient, “manufactured by a criminal enterprise in China,” alleges Sheriff Thomas J. Dart. Sheriff Dart estimates the street value of the drugs at about $200,000.
The Sheriff alleges that Rupani has admitted he forwarded on packages (sent to him by his co-conspirator in Karachi, Pakistan), to addresses in Texas and California on a regular basis. Officers on the scene also recovered plastic bags containing an estimated 20,000 light green triangular pills that are suspected of being counterfeit Xanax, as well as a box of diet pills while searching the premises.
Related sources:
“West Suburban Man Charged in Fake Pharmaceuticals Ring,” Cooks County Sheriffs’ Office. December 13th 2010.
“Amin Rupani Arrested, Charged with Unlawful Possession of Controlled Substance (Valium) in Elk Grove Village,”The Arlington Cardinal. December 15th, 2010.
“Naperville man charged in fake Valium, Xanax bust ,”Napierville Sun-Times. December 13th, 2010.