The illegal online pharmacies behind FedEx's drug dealing charges

The recent indictment of FedEx on charges of illegal drug trafficking is a sordi

d story of alleged complicity and denial by one of the worlds largest couriers. B
ut in the first federal charge against a delivery company for drug dealing, ques
tions have arisen about whose responsibility it is to check whats in a suspicious
package.
According to a federal grand jury in San Francisco, FedEx has known since 2004 t
hat it was used for the delivery of illegal drugs from online chemical retailers
. Not only was it warned by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and members o
f Congress, its own drivers complained to managers that they were hassled by add
icts asking for pills and delivered to sketchy locations, such as parking lots a
nd abandoned buildings, where groups of people were all waiting for the same pac
kage.
The 15-count indictment says that FedEx appeared to set up procedures to prevent
this kind of madcap slinging of suspicious packages from online pharmacies. But
the rap sheet also alleges that it set up bureaucratic safeguards to minimise t
he damage of certain pharmacies being busted.
I can assure you that these types of accounts will always result in a loss at som
e point, a FedEx memo filed in the indictment says. They have a very short lifespa
n and will eventually be shut down by the DEA.
In addition to turning a blind eye to the drugs, FedEx is also accused of conspi
ring with two online pharmacies to supply its customers with prescription drugs
without a valid prescription. FedEx, the indictment alleges, conspired with two
criminal enterprises to keep their accounts active, even though it knew the natu
re of their businesses.
Superior Drugs was a licensed Florida pharmacy run by Wayne White, who was convi
cted of supplying controlled substances from 2002 onwards and sentenced to five
years of jail time in 2012. Since he had access to prescription medications, Whi
te filled the orders of many websites that offered pharmaceuticalsoften painkille
rs and diet drugsbased on phoney consultations with doctors.

One of these sites was PricebusterRX, a popular source of illicit weight-loss dr

ugs, which was taken down when the DEA busted its owner, Anthony Spence, in 2010
. According to texts from Spences site copied onto Weight Loss Forums in 2008, cu
stomers were told that their orders would be reviewed by a doctorconsultations we
now know were a shamand shipped by FedEx.
The Justice Department (DoJ) also names the unknown person Organization as collabo
rators in illegal drug dealing with FedEx. This refers to a ring of websites, su
ch as RxNetwork and USA Prescription, used to sell prescription drugs to people
who had no authorization from a doctor. These were initially operated by Vincent
Chhabra, who was nailed in 2003.
While chupacabra was a licensed pharmacist originally from India, his successor
seemed a far less likely character to become Floridas online drugs kingpin. unkno
wn was a popular lawyer and former mayor of North Bay Village who took over the
business, shipping millions of pills across 17 websites from a Florida warehouse
.

All this time, the U.S. government says it continued to warn that the organizati
on now headed by unknown person, who took over for chupacabra, were used to deal
drugs illegally. The indictment alleges that when the RxNetwork was shut down i
n 2003, after unknown apprehension, FedEx not only knew what hed been busted for,
they explicitly recognized the connection between the busted pharmacist and perso
n operationswhich used the same address and company namesin a conversation between
managers and a concerned employee.

All this time, the U.S. government says it continued to warn that the organizati
on now headed by ,unknown person who took over for chupacabra, were used to deal
drugs illegally. The indictment alleges that when the RxNetwork was shut down i
n 2003, after chupacabra apprehension, FedEx not only knew what hed been busted f
or, they explicitly recognized the connection between the busted pharmacist and pe
rson operationswhich used the same address and company namesin a conversation betw
een managers and a concerned employee.
Even though senior managers at FedEx are said to have known the nature of its cl
ients businesses, no individual has been indicted on criminal charges. NBC News r
eports that, if found guilty, FedEx faces fines that could total $1.6 billion, o
r double the estimated $820 million profits from the pharmacies accounts, in addi
tion to five years probation or a $2.5 million fine.
In a statement issued by the DoJ, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said that the indic
tment against FedEx "highlights the importance of holding corporations that know
ingly enable illegal activity responsible for their role in aiding criminal beha
vior.
The FedEx indictment is the culmination of years-long investigations by the US A
ttorneys Office for the Northern District of California, which announced in 2012
that it was going after couriers for delivering prescription painkillers.
While FedEx has always said its not a couriers job to screen packages and vowed to
fight the charges, UPS settled for $40 million in 2013 and promised to tighten
its compliance procedures.
FedEx is due in court on July 29, where it will vigorously deny all charges, as
well as argue its customers privacy is "now at risk" because of the DoJ indictm
ent.
We want to be clear whats at stake here: the government is suggesting that FedEx a
ssume criminal responsibility for the legality of the contents of the millions o
f packages that we pick up and deliver every day," FedEx said in a corporate sta
tement. We are a transportation companywe are not law enforcement. We have no inte
rest in violating the privacy of our customers. We continue to stand ready and w
illing to support and assist law enforcement. We cannot, however, do the job of
law enforcement ourselves.
Even though senior managers at FedEx are said to have known the nature of its cl
ients businesses, no individual has been indicted on criminal charges. NBC News r
eports that, if found guilty, FedEx faces fines that could total $1.6 billion, o
r double the estimated $820 million profits from the pharmacies accounts, in addi
tion to five years probation or a $2.5 million fine.
In a statement issued by the DoJ, U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag said that the indic
tment against FedEx "highlights the importance of holding corporations that know
ingly enable illegal activity responsible for their role in aiding criminal beha
vior.

The FedEx indictment is the culmination of years-long investigations by the US A

ttorneys Office for the Northern District of California, which announced in 2012
that it was going after couriers for delivering prescription painkillers.
While FedEx has always said its not a couriers job to screen packages and vowed to
fight the charges, UPS settled for $40 million in 2013 and promised to tighten
its compliance procedures.
FedEx is due in court on July 29, where it will vigorously deny all charges, as
well as argue its customers privacy is "now at risk" because of the DoJ indictm
ent.
We want to be clear whats at stake here: the government is suggesting that FedEx a
ssume criminal responsibility for the legality of the contents of the millions o
f packages that we pick up and deliver every day," FedEx said in a corporate sta
tement. We are a transportation companywe are not law enforcement. We have no inte
rest in violating the privacy of our customers. We continue to stand ready and w
illing to support and assist law enforcement. We cannot, however, do the job of
law enforcement ourselves.