FedEx charged with trafficking drugs for Web pharmacies

[MemphisMax]

TweetNot exactly AAS news but still very interesting...

Donna Leinwand Leger, USA TODAY

FedEx is facing drug-trafficking charges after a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted the overnight shipping company, accusing it of conspiring to deliver prescription drugs for illegal Internet pharmacies.

The indictment says FedEx knew for a decade that such pharmacies used their services. FedEx took steps to protect its business by setting up special credit policies for Internet pharmacies so it wouldn't lose money if police shut the sites down, the indictment says.

FedEx ignored nearly a decade of warnings from the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Food and Drug Administration and members of Congress, the indictment says.

"FedEx knew that it was delivering drugs to dealers and addicts," the Justice Department said in a press release.

Federal prosecutors have summoned FedEx to federal court in San Francisco for a hearing July 29.


No FedEx officers were charges.

FedEx is innocent of the charges, said Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president for marketing and communications, in a written statement. Fitzgerald said FedEx has cooperated for decades with law enforcement agencies to stop illegal drug activity.

"We have repeatedly requested that the government provide us a list of online pharmacies engaging in illegal activity," he said. "Whenever DEA provides us a list of pharmacies engaging in illegal activity, we will turn off shipping for those companies immediately. So far the government has declined to provide such a list."

Fitzgerald said it is unreasonable to expect FedEx to take responsibility for the legality of the contents of the 10 million packages it delivers each day.

"We are a transportation company — we are not law enforcement," he said.

FedEx's couriers in Kentucky, Tennessee and Virginia told senior FedEx managers that they worried for their safety. Delivery addresses for the pills included parking lots, schools and vacant homes where carloads of people would await the parcels, the indictment said.

"FedEx trucks had been stopped on the road by Internet pharmacy customers demanding packages of pills," it said.

The illegitimate Internet pharmacies that emerged on the Web starting in 1998 required that patients do little more than fill out a questionnaire describing an ache or pain to get an online prescription.

Prosecutors say officials of the DEA and FDA and members of Congress warned FedEx at least six times since 2004 that illegal Internet pharmacies used the global shipper to deliver drugs.


The indictment says FedEx knowingly shipped drugs for two illegal Internet pharmacies, the Chhabra-Smoley Organization and Superior Drugs. In 2003, the DEA shut down RxNetwork, one of the Chhabra-Smoley businesses, and arrested Vincent Chhabra on charges of violating the Controlled Substances Act.

"FedEx learned of these events promptly after they occurred," the indictment says, but the shipper continued to deliver for other businesses run by the same group.

The credit policy, circulated to FedEx directors on July 6, 2006, and included in the indictment, explained the policy's rationale: "Many of these companies operate outside federal and state regulations over the sale of controlled drugs. ... Drugs purchased from these sites may be diluted or counterfeit. Several sites have been shut down by the government without warning or simply disappeared, leaving large balances owing to FedEx."

[hicktown]

TweetFedex isnt law enforcement so i dont see why they would be in trouble. Yes i think they should screen a little bit for obvious things but who knows i think they just turned their head to make money. Thats a huge deal being as large as they are.

[MemphisMax]

TweetFedEx is actually very law enforcement friendly. I have family that works for them. They screen as much as they can, but it would be nearly impossible to check every package and still keep up with the fast deliveries that customers demand. It will be interesting to watch this unfold.

[Dzone]

TweetWhy should fedex be charged with drug trafficking? They dont hold the airlines responsible when someone sneaks drugs onto a plane

[MOUNTAIN-MAN]

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Why should fedex be charged with drug trafficking? They dont hold the airlines responsible when someone sneaks drugs onto a plane

Very true it's not like they can open every box and have a look

[MemphisMax]

TweetFedEx is about a 30 Billion dollar company. Sounds like the govt is trying to get a slice in my opinion.

[sofargone561]

TweetI don't see this going anywhere. They asked for a list and never got one. FedEx can't be in charge of investigating companies to determine if they are illegal or what ever. I think this is fucking ridiculous. You'll never see this happens with USPS though since its government owned. I feel like this is an attack from the government towards FedEx because its shipping on USPS.

[guage]

TweetI remember a while back the govt was asking for something from fedx and they told them no.. this is just the govt way of shitting on you when you don't do what your told reguardless of fair or legal.. im sure all this would go away tomarrow if fedx just did what they wanted which is not in fedx best interst im sure

[guns01]

Tweetno way not possible to stick and if it does it will shut them all down from usps to ups because they all do it unknowingly and if they searched every piece it would take months or years to get anything in

[MemphisMax]

TweetHere is the thing guys it comes down to MONEY. It doesn't matter if it sticks, the govt wants money. Last year they did the same thing to UPS. Accused them of the same exact thing. UPS settled with the govt to pay a fine of 40 MILLION DOLLARS. They didn't fight it, they paid so it would go away so it wouldn't linger in the media.

[MuscleAddiction]

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Here is the thing guys it comes down to MONEY. It doesn't matter if it sticks, the govt wants money. Last year they did the same thing to UPS. Accused them of the same exact thing. UPS settled with the govt to pay a fine of 40 MILLION DOLLARS. They didn't fight it, they paid so it would go away so it wouldn't linger in the media.

WOW!!! What a wonderful government we have!!! Crooks going after crooks!!!

[Mountain Monster]

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FedEx is about a 30 Billion dollar company. Sounds like the govt is trying to get a slice in my opinion.

Pretty good point as FedEx is a big rival of USPS..... That's a good one for conspiracist!

[guage]

Tweetlegal extortion..

[MemphisMax]

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Memphis is absolutely right,its all about $$!!!

Funny how the gov't can do whatever the hell they want and create charges where there are no laws warranting these charges and even funnier how there's always the millions of $$ in fines that can bribe all the charges away!!!

You see boys and girls,there's no boundaries the gov't won't break in robbing us all of our freedoms which works hand in hand with robbing us all of our money!!

Thought you would find this topic interesting FIST! Thanks for the input bro.