Crackdown on Internet Drug Sales April 22, 2005
News Summary
Twenty people were arrested this week in a federal crackdown on online pharmacies selling drugs on the Internet, including narcotics, steroids, and amphetamines, the Los Angeles Times reported April 21.An Indian doctor and his Philadelphia-based son were among those charged with illegally importing drugs from India for resale via the Internet to U.S. customers. The scheme reputedly has 100,000 customers worldwide, up to 70 percent of them in the U.S.
"The Web sites we targeted today gave an illusion of safety and legitimacy, depicting seemingly legitimate pharmacists in white lab coats in sterile environments," said Karen Tandy, administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration. "But in reality, the drugs ... were smuggled from India and Europe and stashed in cars and homes and stuffed in plastic bags. When they arrived on the Internet customer's doorstep, the drugs were in the proverbial plain, brown wrappers."
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