News
Multi-State Counterfeit Pill Drug Trafficking Organization Halted by 400+ Law Enforcement Officers on December 5th and 6th
A series of drug seizures by the Bremerton Police Department last year has led Federal authorities to a massive drug trafficking organization that was responsible for bringing thousands of counterfeit oxycodone pills made with fentanyl into Skagit and Snohomish counties.
[...]Thousands of Fake Pills Purchased From China Shipped To Man In New York State
The U.S. Department of Justice announced a guilty plea from a Rochester, New York man who purchased thousands of counterfeit pills from China and had them shipped to his home. U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized one package on its way to Samuel McFarland in April 2017 that contained over 3,000 pills. In January 2018, a second package contained almost as many pills was found to be headed to his home…
[...]Iowa Pair Sentenced For Selling Counterfeit Oxycodone Pills Purchased Online That Contained Carfentanil
The U.S. Department of Justice announced that Waverly, Iowa residents Evan Sage and Cameron Lensmeyer will spend a combined 11 years in prison after they purchased what they thought were oxycodone pills online. After police arrested the pair, tests showed the pills to be counterfeit. Some contained cyclopropyl fentanyl and some contained carfentanil…
[...]Transplants and Counterfeit Medicines: What You Need to Know
Receiving an organ transplant is like being given a new lease on life, but that lease comes with an exceptionally important string attached to it. Strict adherence to your prescribed medications is your best line of defense against rejection. It is crucial that transplant recipients only purchase FDA-approved medications to decrease the chance that their bodies might reject the new organs…
[...]Seattle Area Drug Trafficker Allegedly Used Pill Press to Make Counterfeit Xanax
Federal drug trafficking charges have been filed against Gizachew Wondie, a resident of the Capitol Hill section of Seattle, on charges that he was manufacturing and selling counterfeit Xanax pills and other drugs. In addition to the discovery of a handgun, investigators found approximately 11,000 ‘Xanax’ pills stored in large plastic bags, and a large pill press.
[...]Counterfeiters Coerced U.S. Man to Drive 20,000 Counterfeit Pills Across Mexico-U.S. Border
The U.S. Department of Justice announced a guilty plea from Fernando Jesus Peraza. The U.S. citizen was stopped by Customs and Border Protection attempting to enter into the country with over 20,000 counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl hidden in his vehicle on August 8, 2018…
[...]Bay Area Adderall Counterfeiter Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison
A Brisbane, California resident has been sentenced to ten years in prison for manufacturing and distributing counterfeit Adderall, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). Gino Carl von Eckstein, who pleaded guilty in September, was originally charged with producing fake Adderall pills with pill presses located at a house he was using in San Leandro.
[...]Fentanyl and Heroin Found In Counterfeit Pills Sold By A Pair In Ocean County, New Jersey
Charges announced against H.J. Zaker Sinder and Mary Mazzi. Police allege that the pair manufactured and distributed counterfeit oxycodone and Xanax pills in the Ocean County, New Jersey area. Testing revealed the pills to contain both fentanyl and heroin…
[...]Man Who Made And Sold Nearly One Million Counterfeit Xanax Pills Sentenced
A federal judge in Maryland handed down a 57-month prison sentence to Ryan Farace. Farace manufactured nearly a million counterfeit Xanax pills and sold them on various online marketplaces…
[...]Side Stepping FDA Safeguards to Buy Medicine in Mexico Isn’t Safe, Former DEA Agents Warn
In this editorial, which was published in The Salt Lake Tribune on December 10, 2018, former DEA agents Javier Peña and Steve Murphy, warn that importing prescription drugs from other countries is “an extremely risky enterprise with potentially tragic consequences.”
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