Full Notification

Nature of Incident: Five Month Investigation Started with Crime Stoppers Tip Leads to Twenty Arrests for Unlawful Sale / Importation of Prescription Drugs. Culminates with Arrest of Two Mexican Citizens.

Report Number: 14-11569
Location: Ventura, Los Angeles, and San Diego Counties, CA
Date & Time: February - June, 2014
Unit(s) Responsible: Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit
Medical Board of California
Los Angeles County Health Authority Law Enforcement Task Force (HALT)

(S)uspects, (V)ictims, (P)arty, (D)ecedent City of Residence Age
(S) Miguel Meza Tijuana, Mexico 64
(S) Pedro Morales Tijuana, Mexico 54

Narrative:
Investigators from the Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit received a Crime Stoppers Tip at the beginning of February, 2014, alerting them to the unlawful sale of prescription medication from a Santa Paula market. Investigators, in an undercover capacity bought prescription medication from this market. Detectives then discovered other markets throughout the county were also selling similar prescription medications absent a lawful right to do so. Detectives bought prescription drugs from seven other markets located in Oxnard, Simi Valley, and Fillmore. The drugs mainly consisted of antibiotics and pain medications that were originally manufactured in Mexico. Many of the clerks at these markets told the detectives how to take the medications, providing dosage and ingestion instructions.

Investigators learned through the investigation that a recipient of medication purchased from one of these stores suffered a near fatal infection.

The task force was able to identify some of the sources of supply for these Mexican medications were storefronts in Downtown Los Angeles. Investigators from both the Ventura County task force, and a similar task force in Los Angeles (HALT) conducted undercover buys for similar medications in these markets.

Searches were conducted at fifteen locations in Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. Approximately 16,000 pills, bottles, and vials of prescription medication were recovered. These medications all required a doctor’s prescription to be sold, but were illegally available for the general public to purchase. Stores in Ventura County were more discreet in their sales, hiding medications from public view, while Los Angeles County stores had the medication clearly visible on the shelves. The medications consisted of antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, antispasmodics, analgesics, malaria treatments, lifestyle drugs, and steroids.

Knowing that the majority of these drugs were coming from Mexico, investigators looked for other sources of supply directly from Mexico. Detectives learned of a Tijuana resident offering prescription drugs for sale via Craigslist. Detectives, in an undercover capacity, made contact with Miguel Meza who offered the above drugs, as well as Xanax, Ritalin, Norco, Tramadol, and Adderall, for sale. Detectives met with Meza, and his partner, Pedro Morales in San Diego where a $1000 purchase was made of various prescription medications, including Xanax and Tramadol.

On June 26, 2014, Investigators again arranged to meet Meza and Morales for a much larger deal for additional drugs. Meza and Morales were arrested at the Fashion Valley Mall, in San Diego, when they arrived for the deal. Over 1600 pills intended for sale were seized. The pills included the ADHD treatment drugs Ritalin and Adderall, as well as Xanax, Tramadol, and various antibiotics. Detectives also served a search warrant on Meza’s storage locker located in the 600 block of San Ysidro Boulevard, in San Ysidro. Over 20,000 dosage units of prescription medications, as well as a quarter pound of Ketamine, and a small amount of marijuana were recovered from the locker. The medications consisted of Adderall, Xanax, Valium, Testosterone, antibiotics, lifestyle drugs, and diet drugs. The drugs were found to come from Mexico, Pakistan, and other foreign countries where quality control is lacking or non-existent. A preliminary analysis of the medications showed that a large portion of these drugs were counterfeit or adulterated. Some of the drugs were made with shredded plastic.

Both Meza and Morales were booked into the Ventura County Jail for sales of controlled substances and dangerous drugs. Their bail was set at $600,000.

The Medical Board of California assisted with the investigation since its inception. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Narcotics East County Street Team also assisted with the investigation.

The Ventura County Interagency Pharmaceutical Crimes Unit is a full time task force comprised of members of law enforcement from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Simi Valley Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation, and the California Highway Patrol. The task force’s main mission is combatting the transfer of legal prescription medication to the illegal market.

Photos are available for viewing at: http://tinyurl.com/illegalprescriptionimport



Prepared by: Ventura County Sheriff’s Sergeant Victor Fazio
Media Release Date: July 1, 2014
Follow-Up Contact: Ventura County Sheriff’s Captain Don Aguilar
(805) 797 7349
[email protected]

Ventura County Sheriff’s Sergeant Eric Buschow
(805) 947-8129
[email protected]

Approved by: Ventura County Sheriff’s Captain Curt Rothschiller
Ventura County Crime Stoppers will pay up to $1,000 reward for information, which leads to the arrest and criminal complaint against the person(s) responsible for this crime. The caller may remain anonymous. The call is not recorded. Call Crime Stoppers at 800-222-TIPS (8477).

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