Federal prosecutors say a network of illegal drug sellers packaged potentially deadly synthetic opioids into pills disguised as common prescription drugs and sold millions of them through fake online drugstores.

A network of illegal drug sellers based in the U.S., the Dominican Republic and India packaged potentially deadly synthetic opioids into pills disguised as common prescription drugs and sold millions of them through fake online drugstores, federal prosecutors said Monday.

At least nine people died of narcotics poisoning between August 2023 and June 2024 after consuming the counterfeit pills, according to an indictment unsealed in federal court in Manhattan.

The indictment charges that the leader of the enterprise, Francisco Alberto Lopez Reyes, orchestrated the scheme from the Dominican Republic, directing co-conspirators to set up dozens of online pharmacies that mimicked legitimate e-commerce sites. The sites lured customers into buying synthetic opioids — in some cases methamphetamine — disguised as prescription drugs such as Adderall, Xanax and oxycodone.

The counterfeit pills were sold to tens of thousands of Americans in all 50 states and to customers in Puerto Rico, Germany and Slovenia, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference announcing the indictment.

  • @MicroWaveOPEnglish
    7•3 months ago

    Looks like AP dropped the ball on this one because that’s not what the prosecutors said. They said:

    …With his co-conspirators, LOPEZ REYES set up dozens of online pharmacy websites, designed to appear legitimate in order to lure customers into buying, at reduced prices, tablets of fentanyl, para-fluorofentanyl, and methamphetamine disguised as real prescription medications, including oxycodone, hydrocodone, Adderall, and Xanax, among others…

    https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-against-18-defendants-scheme-manufacture-and-distribute

    • @TotesIllegitEnglish
      9•3 months ago

      This is one way that the DEAs’ approach to ADHD medication boosts the black market. Artificially restrict the supply of legitimate prescription meds, and desperate people become easy marks for this kind of thing.

      • @11111one11111
        3•3 months ago

        Lol it’s not even their approach to adhd meds that’s the problem. It’s their complete incompetence being able to provide the pharmaceutical supply chain with the needed materials to make enough pills to fill the demand for the pills. A demand that is extraordinarily traceable compared to any other industry in the open market. They basically can’t ride a bike with training wheels while any other industry is driving motorcycles.