Office of the
Special Narcotics Prosecutor
for the City of New York
Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor
NEW YORK, NY 10013
212-815-0400, GEN.
212-815-0440, FAX
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Office of the
Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor
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80 CENTRE STREET, SIXTH FLOOR NEW YORK, NY 10013 212-815-0400, GEN. 212-815-0440, FAX |
Operation Blue Diamond Recovers Thousands of Fake Viagra-like Pills
Bridget G. Brennan, Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York, announced today the filing of an indictment charging Angel Grullon Sr. 44 and his son Angel Grullon Jr. 25, in connection with the distribution of tens of thousands of counterfeit Viagra pills to bodegas and storefronts in Upper Manhattan. The two were arrested on September 15, 2008 by Special Narcotics investigators who seized 20,000 pills. They were indicted for Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree, Criminal Diversion of Prescription Medications in the Second Degree and Trademark Counterfeiting in the Second Degree, punishable by up to 2 1/3 – 7 years in prison.
Since January, when the investigation began, the defendants regularly traveled by commercial airlines to the Dominican Republic at least twice a month where they bought embossed pills with the same distinctive blue color and diamond shape as the Pfizer-made Viagra. Each time they returned, they smuggled between 5,000 and 20,000 counterfeit pills inside suitcases through JFK airport.
They distributed the pills to bodegas in the Washington Heights area of Manhattan, using a van as a mobile distribution center. The counterfeit pills sold for upwards of $1.60 a pill to the public. Pfizer’s Viagra ranges from $9.50 to $15 a pill.
The Federal Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations worked on the investigation and conducted the analysis. The pills are a generic Viagra-like version containing the same chemical compound but with the critical active ingredient in a lesser quantity than the actual Viagra would contain.
Experts believe the pills are manufactured in India, where the milling conditions are often unsanitary and vermin infested. In these mills, no efforts are made to comply with widely accepted standards in the pharmaceutical industry.
Indicted:
Angel Grullon Sr. 44
260 Fort Washington Avenue
Manhattan
Angel Grullon, Jr, 25
145-41 115th Avenue
Queens
Tens of thousands of fake Viagra-like pills were seized. In the photo above the fake pills are on the left and the real Pfizer pills on the right.
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The defendants smuggled the pills into the city hidden inside bottles of fish oil and vitamins concealed in their luggage.