US Authorities Crack Internet Drug Ring
by Alan FeinDrug Enforcement Administration Administrator
Karen P. Tandy announced the results of Operation
"Cyber Chase", a year-long investigation that
targeted international Internet pharmaceutical
traffickers.If you would like to receive late
breaking news on issues covered by AXcess News
then you need to subscribe.Print This PageApril
20, 2005 (AXcess News) Washington - Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) Administrator Karen P. Tandy
announced the results of Operation "Cyber Chase",
a year-long investigation that targeted international
Internet pharmaceutical traffickers.Tandy said
that their investigation led to the arrest of
20 people in eight cities who were involved in
the illegal trafficking of pharmaceutical drugs
through the Internet.
The DEA said that most of the drugs were from
pharmaceutical manufacturers in India.In one case,
a local Federal Express employee alerted authorities
when a package was found to contain a generic
form of Valium that had been shipped by a local
business. The FedEx employee said that the business
had shipped over 4,800 packages in February alone.The
DEA said that these e-traffickers distributed
drugs world-wide using "rogue" Internet pharmacies.
DEA,
FBI, ICE, FDA, USPS, IRS, United States Attorney
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Patrick
L. Meehan; United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York Roslynn R. Mauskopf; state
and local law enforcement; and law enforcement
authorities in four foreign countries participated
in this investigation.
Operation "Cyber Chase"
targeted major pharmaceutical drug traffickers
who allegedly shipped Schedule II-V pharmaceutical
controlled substances including narcotics, amphetamines,
and anabolic steroids directly to buyers of all
ages without the medical examination by a physician
required by U.S. law.
These e-traffickers used more than 200 websites
to illicitly distribute pharmaceutical controlled
substances.DEA Administrator Karen P. Tandy said,
"For too long the Internet has been an open medicine
cabinet with cyber drug dealers illegally doling
out a vast array of narcotics, amphetamines, and
steroids. In this first major international enforcement
action against online rogue pharmacies and their
sources of supply, we've logged these traffickers
off the Internet."AXcess News will be reporting
on any new trends related to this story.
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