Three Stamford, Connecticut Residents Charged With Trafficking Thousands of Counterfeit Oxycodone Pills, One Has Pleaded Guilty
Update: An announcement made on May 6th by the U.S. Department of Justice reports that David Reichard, the only member of the trio already in U.S. custody, has pleaded guilty to charges that he assisted Vincent Decaro and Arber Isaku in their counterfeit oxycodone business. Decaro and Isaku are currently being held by Albanian authorities on an extradition request from the United States.
According to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), a trio of Connecticut residents has been indicted on charges they were running an organization that specialized in manufacturing counterfeit pills containing fentanyl and selling them via the Internet to purchasers throughout the United States.
Searches of Vincent Decaro and Arber Isaku’s residences in Stamford revealed that they appeared to be manufacturing and selling counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl. The DOJ reports that a search of Decaro’s residence uncovered approximately 330 grams of fentanyl and acetyl fentanyl, along with 40 grams of other fentanyl analogues in powder form, three pill presses and other materials needed to produce and ship the counterfeit pills.
According to the DOJ, the third member of the organization, David Reichard was arrested on April 13, 2018 in Stamford Connecticut. AP reports that Decaro and Isaku were arrested in Albania while attempting to cross the border into Kosovo.
As described in an extradition affidavit filed with the court, Albanian authorities who searched Decaro and Isaku’s residence after their arrest and found evidence that the twosome were in the process of setting up a new fentanyl pill distribution business in Albania. Albanian authorities found fentanyl precursor chemicals that had been ordered from China, along tool and dies used for pressing Xanax tablets, and a kilogram of alprazolam powder.
The Stamford Daily Voice reports that Connecticut State Police initially arrested Isaku in 2017 after he accepted the delivery of a package containing 160 grams of fentanyl at his home.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, Connecticut State Police and Stamford Police Department are investigating this case, with the assistance of the Albanian State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito is prosecuting the case.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of International Affairs and Rome Attaché Cristina Posa have been coordinating the extradition proceedings.