3 NABBED IN PROBE OF FAKE VIAGRA PILLS.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer Two Glendale men and an Irvine woman were arrested Friday on suspicion of selling counterfeit To falsify, deceive, or defraud. A copy or imitation of something that is intended to be taken as authentic and genuine in order to deceive another. A counterfeit coin is one that may pass for a genuine coin and may include a lower denomination coin altered so that it may Viagra as Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County health officials announced their first large-scale bust of an organized ring selling the erectile dysfunction Erectile Dysfunction Definition Erectile dysfunction (ED), formerly known as impotence, is the inability to achieve or maintain an erection long enough to engage in sexual intercourse. drug. Health officials withheld the names of the suspects, saying the investigation is continuing and they didn't want to jeopardize the possibility of making more arrests and seizing more drugs. ``The three people are related through an organized ring,'' said Don Ashton, a health officer with the county's Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force. ``It's the first Viagra arrest the (task force) has been involved in at this level.'' The three suspects were arrested early Friday on suspicion of conspiracy to illegally traffic in pharmaceutical products - a felony. The two men were arrested at their Glendale homes and the woman at her Irvine home. The arrests are the latest development in an ongoing investigation that began a month ago of a criminal conspiracy to manufacture, distribute and sell counterfeit Viagra, Ashton said. Viagra is a prescription medication manufactured by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. ``Selling counterfeit prescription drugs prescription drug Prescription medication Pharmacology An FDA-approved drug which must, by federal law or regulation, be dispensed only pursuant to a prescription–eg, finished dose form and active ingredients subject to the provisos of the Federal Food, Drug, is a crime that places the public at risk and costs manufacturers, taxpayers and consumers millions of dollars each year,'' county Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich Michael Dennis Antonovich (born 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is a member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors representing the Fifth District, which covers northern Los Angeles County, the Antelope, Santa Clarita, Pasadena, and parts of the San Fernando and San said. The investigation began after an undercover officer purchased $7,000 worth of counterfeit Viagra without a doctor's prescription. ``At least one of the men owns a business in downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or that was searched,'' Ashton said. Task-force teams have made prior arrests of retail business owners selling small quantities of Viagra. The distributors arrested Friday sold the pills for about $5 each. On the street, they are sold for about $10 to $20 per pill. ``This is counterfeit Viagra,'' Ashton said. ``It was tested and it's extremely close to the real thing. It contains the active ingredient An active ingredient, also active pharmaceutical ingredient (or API), is the substance in a drug that is pharmaceutically active. Some medications may contain more than one active ingredient. that makes Viagra work. The dangers are - who knows what else is in it?'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion