January 9, 2023: New warning letter is a good reminder to use licensed pharmacies.
This week: The FDA issued a warning to a rogue pharmacy website selling non-FDA approved medicines. The DEA and Discovery released educational resources about counterfeit drugs for school children. Additional stories relate to counterfeit pills made with fentanyl and other drugs in 16 states.
Protect yourself from fake online pharmacies.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned rogue pharmacy website globalpharmacyplus.com to stop selling Americans unapproved COVID-19 treatments and medicines for organ transplant patients—including drugs for which small differences in dose can cause life threatening problems. Almost 95% of online pharmacies are operating illegally. Learn why that's a problem and how to protect yourself on our patient resources page.
The Drug Enforcement Administration and Discovery Education announced new resources to educate school-age children about the counterfeit drug crisis. Find them here.
Counterfeit pills made with fentanyl and other drugs
In the Northeast
Law enforcement in the Bronx found 20,000 fentanyl pills and three kilograms of powdered fentanyl in a cardboard diaper box. (January 2023)
Massachusetts
A 51-year-old Springfield man faces multiple drug trafficking charges after authorities seized almost 14,000 fentanyl pills and 30 pounds of cocaine when searching his home.
New York
Agents in the Bronx seized 20,000 fentanyl pills and three kilograms of powdered fentanyl in a cardboard diaper box.
In the South
Florida
Deputies with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office found 105 grams of fentanyl, a pill press, and crack cocaine in a vehicle while responding to a call in Pensacola, Florida.
Georgia
Police seized more than 500 fentanyl pills and other drugs from a home in Floyd County, Georgia.
North Carolina
A bust in Forest City, North Carolina yielded 400 fake oxycodone pills with a T-189 imprint made with fentanyl.
Texas
Jesus Arevalo of Odessa received a 12-year prison sentence for fentanyl distribution after selling 2,000 fentanyl pills a month in the first half of 2022.
Virginia
Latae'veion Woods of Woodbridge pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges for supplying “Percocet” pills made of fentanyl that killed a 14-year-old in April 2022. Cell phone records showed that Woods sold pills to the teen on multiple occasions and also offered instructions on reselling them.
In the Midwest
Kansas
A mother in Lawrence spoke about her 23-year-old son, James Lynch, who died on December 27 in Ottawa after taking a counterfeit oxycodone made with fentanyl.
Michigan
Police recovered over 1,900 suspected fentanyl pills and some cocaine from the home of a suspect in Macomb Township.
Minnesota
Police who were following up on a gun complaint arrested a St. Cloud resident who was carrying 200 fentanyl pills.
A few hours away in Rochester, a man was caught with approximately 125 suspected fentanyl pills during a traffic stop.
Nebraska
An Omaha woman is facing charges in the death of her 4-year-old son who suffered fatal fentanyl poisoning in March 2022, after ingesting part of a counterfeit oxycodone pill.
In the Pacific West
California
Clovis police arrested a Selma man at his home, seizing 160,000 fentanyl pills and two pounds of heroin.
Oregon
An inmate at the Deschutes County Jail was charged with bringing counterfeit pills into the facility after he and five additional inmates were treated for fentanyl poisoning.
An Oregon woman was sentenced to home detention for selling the carfentanil pill that killed a man in 2018.
Fentanyl pills and heroin recovered by Clovis Police with the help of a police dog named Bodie.
Washington
Nabiel David Akhdary of Phoenix, Arizona received an 87-month federal prison sentence after pleading guilty to fentanyl possession. Police in Wenatchee caught Akhardya and two other men with methamphetamine and about 1,500 fentanyl pills in June 2022.
Police seized a total of 400 pills made with fentanyl when they arrested an Everett, Washington man on outstanding warrants.
In the Mountain West
Nearly 20,000 pills intercepted by Customs and Border Protection Port at the Port of Nogales.
Arizona
Agents at Arizona's Port of Nogales caught a pedestrian entering the U.S. with about 20,000 fentanyl pills strapped to their legs.
Colorado
Nathaniel David Corser got a 20-year sentence for selling fake oxycodone pills made with fentanyl that killed 19-year-old Kaeden Norlander of Colorado Springs on July 4, 2021.
Police in Aurora arrested a man and seized suspected Xanax and more than 80,000 fake oxycodone pills made with fentanyl. The man was allegedly advertising the pills on social media.
Police in Denver arrested two men after they found a duffle bag full of tens of thousands of fentanyl pills during a traffic stop.
Montana
Kelly Sterling Wait of Williston, North Dakota pleaded guilty to federal drug charges. Police in Great Falls caught him with about 800 fentanyl pills in October 2022.