FDA Slams Distributor With Counterfeit Drug Charges

Federal efforts to protect the drug supply chain continue to bear fruit, with the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations announcing criminal charges for another counterfeit operation.

Junaid Qadir was arraigned in U.S. District Court in Denver on an eight-count indictment for using his family’s import business — JNS Impex — to sneak large quantities of counterfeit and unapproved drugs past U.S. Customs and Border Control and distribute them in the U.S.

Qadir was charged with introducing unapproved drugs into interstate commerce, introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, selling counterfeit drugs, importing controlled substances, distributing controlled substances, importing merchandise contrary to law, conspiracy to defraud the U.S., conspiracy to import controlled substances and possession to distribute controlled substances with intent to distribute.

A conviction on each charge carries a penalty of up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to the Justice Department.

According to the indictment, Qadir and his brother, Shehzad Qadir, imported tens of thousands of counterfeit and unapproved drugs into the U.S. between 2010 and 2012, including knock-offs of Viagra, lorazepam, diazepam and phentermine. A “substantial portion” of these drugs — which came from suppliers in Pakistan, India, China and the UK — were then distributed to U.S. consumers, according to the indictment. Shehzad Qadir is not in custody, according to the DoJ.

Recent OCI probes of drug counterfeiters and unapproved drug manufacturers have led to three individuals being sentenced to prison and two more convicted. This includes a man sentenced in January to six months in prison for peddling a fictional cancer treatment and two Canadians collectively sentenced to 27 months in prison for selling counterfeit Botox to U.S. physicians.

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