New York Residents Charged After Being Found With Over 12 Kilos Of Counterfeit Xanax Pills

Photo from SF Public Health

In June 2018, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the results of a year-long national operation that used undercover agents to target vendors selling illicit drugs on the internet. The investigation identified 65 targets and resulted in indictments against 35 vendors. Previously, PSM wrote about the case against Maryland resident Ryan Farace, whom authorities allege made tens of millions of dollars selling counterfeit Xanax pills online. Another case that resulted from the investigation charged five people from New York for their roles in illicitly selling drugs online.

According to the criminal complaint, between June 2017 and May 2018 Jian Qu, Raymond Weng, Kai Wu, Dimitri Tseperkas, and Chiad Akkaya were all members of a narcotics conspiracy that allegedly distributed and had the intent to distribute a controlled substance. Tseperkas and Akkaya also have a one-count firearms charge against them. Search warrants executed at three residences turned up a variety of drugs and paraphernalia, including 12 kilograms of suspected Xanax pills, four pill presses, mixers, pill press parts, over a dozen kilograms of various powders, and packaging materials.

Electronic evidence recovered during the searches proved the connection between defendants and the online marketplaces, including the use of cryptocurrency and images of shipping labels used to send packages to customers. At the time that the criminal complaint was filed, results were pending on what the over 12 kilograms of various powders seized are. In total for the whole investigation, authorities seized 15 pill presses, over 24 kilos of Xanax, and hundreds of thousands of pills.