The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced the convictions of two illegal aliens involved in a pharmaceutical scam.
“Thanks to the hard work of the brave men and women of ICE law enforcement, these criminal aliens from the Dominican Republic have been brought to justice,” Acting Assistant Secretary Lauren Bis said in a press release. “These criminals ran a deadly scheme to sell millions of counterfeit pharmaceutical pills and ultimately killed a person with their fentanyl-laced products. Under President Trump and Secretary Mullin, DHS will never stop cracking down on drug-trafficking and locking up those who profit off of bringing this poison into our country.”
The pills were then distributed by the second defendant, Edward Eustate Jimenez, under the auspices of fake online pharmacies. More than 1 million pills were shipped to thousands of victims in all 50 states; law enforcement officials seized another 650,000 pills while searching the mills. The DHS press release included a photo of dozens of plastic bags containing multi-colored pills.
The fake pills resulted in at least one death. On February 25, 2024, a 45 year-old woman and a veteran of the U.S. Army took pills purported to be oxycodone and marked with the distinctive "M" on one side and "30" on the other; but the pills actually contained a lethal dose of fentanyl and para-fluorofentanyl, and she died of an overdose.
Reyes was found guilty of serving as a principal administrator of a continuing criminal enterprise, which itself carries a mandatory minimum life sentence; conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death, which carries a sentence of 20 years to life; narcotics distribution, which carries a sentence of 10 years to life; and conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a sentence of up to 20 years.
Jimenez was convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death; and narcotics distribution. The two will be sentenced at a later date.
According to DHS, Jimenez crossed the border illegally at an unknown date and place. He was apprehended in Arizona in December 2022 but released. Reyes was previously extradited to the U.S. in October 2024 on drug trafficking charges.