A Pakistani man was indicted twice for importing and selling counterfeit prescription drugs including Viagra.
He made his first appearance in a US district court in Denver last week.
Junaid Qadir, 33, is accused of selling commercial and wholesale quantities of fake or unapproved versions of Viagra, Lorazepam, Alprazolam, Diazepam, Zolpidem and Phentermine through his family’s pharmacy JNS Impex in Karachi.
Qadir was arrested last spring in Germany, where he was jailed until he was deported to the United States. However, after being advised of the charges against him, he pleaded not guilty. He was ordered to be held without bond, the office of US Attorney John Walsh said in a news release.
The court documents reveal that Qadir and his brother, Shehzad, who is not in custody, are heads of the family-owned and operated JNS Impex.
While the company claims it is licensed to distribute and export medications, including narcotics, investigators say the company was never licensed by the US Drug Enforcement Administration to import or sell controlled substances in the US.
According to Walsh’s office, JNS Impex took orders online, typically from people operating Internet pharmacies that would sell the drugs to customers without prescriptions. The orders were filled by suppliers in Pakistan, India, the UK and China.
Often the drugs were shipped loose in plastic vitamin and water bottles, or mailed without packaging, patient safety information or other written instructions.
The customers usually paid for the drugs using money transfers by Western Union and other companies to accounts in the defendant’s name or connected companies in the United Arab Emirates and elsewhere, Walsh’s office said.
“This case should be a reminder to everyone that buying counterfeit prescription drugs online from overseas pharmacies is playing with fire,” Walsh said in a news release. “An online buyer of such drugs has no idea what drug or substance they are actually receiving. The US Attorney’s Office, Homeland Security Investigations and FDA will work tirelessly — as we did in this case — to locate, charge and apprehend counterfeit drug traffickers in whatever corner of the world they may hide.”
Qadir faces several charges with penalties ranging from not more than 3 years in federal prison to not more than 20 years in prison. Moreover, each count carries a fine of up to $250,000.
