FedEx and UPS have turned out to be part of a criminal investigation by the US Drug EnforcementAdministration (DEA) initiated more than four years ago into illegal drug sales from online
pharmacies, according to US media reports.Both companies mentioned the issue inconspicuously in their regulatory filings over the last fewweeks. The DEA has been probing since 2007 whether UPS and FedEx have been involved in shippingillegal drugs purchased from online pharmacies as part of an international crackdown againstillegal sales of prescription painkillers.
The investigation is part of a blitz against online pharmacies dating back to 2005. Since then,several people have been arrested, thousands of websites shut down and tens of millions of dollarsand pills confiscated all over the world as the investigations continue. Last year, Google agreedto pay $500 million to settle allegations by the US Justice Department accusing the company ofprofiting from ads for illegal online pharmacies.
A US court yesterday convicted three men of running illegal pharmacies that made use of FedExand UPS to deliver drugs without official prescriptions while seven others have already beenconvicted in San Francisco this year, US newspapers reported.
FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald confirmed the probe to media yesterday. He said that he hadno idea if the probe into FedEx was related to the San Francisco cases but denied any wrongdoingsby the company.
In the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission from September 19 this year, FedExwrote that it responded to the subpoenas by the jury in 2008 and 2009. “We do not believe that wehave engaged in any illegal activities and will vigorously defend ourselves in any action that mayresult from the investigation,” it stated.
Fitzgerald stressed: “Clearly, we find the entire investigation to be absurd, and it’s somethingthat we are hoping that the Department of Justice and the government overall takes a differentapproach to and works with us and the industry to find a solution to the problem.”
He explained that the government institutions refused to give FedEx a list of pharmaciesinvolved in the illegal distribution of drugs. Without such a list, it was impossible to know whichcompanies are operating illegally, he said. He called on the Justice Department to review the probeand find a solution for the company to better support the government’s efforts.
Fitzgerald refused to explain why FedEx has now disclosed the investigation but confirmed thatthe company is being investigated for allegedly supporting online pharmacies that illegally shipprescription drugs.
UPS also confirmed in its regulatory filing on 1 Nov. 2012 that it responded to subpoenas froman US attorney in San Francisco back in 2007 in relation to the DEA investigation saying that itwas in talks with the Justice Department about settling the case. But a UPS spokesman declined tocomment on the issue to US media. “We won’t have any further comment until the matter isclosed.”
This probe is the latest in several cases initiated by the DEA against companies that distributeor sell powerful prescription painkillers called opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone. Thishave resulted in the deadliest drug epidemic in the US with more than 15,000 people dying each yearafter overdosing, more than from heroin, cocaine and all other illegal drugs combined, according tothe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
