Man Gets Two Years For Importing And Distributing Fake Drugs From Pakistan

The U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that a Massachusetts man received a two-year prison sentence for his role in a scheme to import and distribute misbranded prescription drugs from Pakistan to customers in the U.S. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Harry Aliengena of Palmer pleaded guilty in November 2017 to one count of conspiracy to import controlled substances, two counts of felony introduction of misbranded drugs with intent to defraud or mislead, and one count of misdemeanor introduction of misbranded drugs.

In court, authorities stated that between July 2011 and June 2012 Aliengena acted as a middleman between a drug company in Pakistan and customers in the U.S., regularly placing orders for a variety of drugs including Ritalin, Percocet, hydrocodone, Adderall, and Restoril. The company shipped the drugs to Aliengena, and he would reship a portion of the drugs to the customers. In return, Aliengena received payments and discounts on any drugs that he kept for his personal use.

According to Mass Live, court documents and arguments made at sentencing showed that Aliengena ordered thousands of pills from Danish Enterprises, a company operating out of Karachi, Pakistan. Brian Hendricks, a special agent with the FDA, testified that his agency and others suspect Danish Enterprises to have been behind the counterfeit heart medicine crisis that killed over 100 in that country in 2012. Assistant U.S. Attorney Deepika Bains Shukla prosecuted the case.