Arrests Made in Internet Drug Crackdown
Twenty people in the United States, Australia, Costa Rica and India have been arrested in a crackdown on illegal shipments of drugs across the Internet.
The suspects are charged with illegally shipping steroids, narcotics and amphetamines to teens and other buyers around the world, U.S. federal authorities said Wednesday. The arrests come after a year-long investigation of online pharmacies by six U.S. federal agencies, the Associated Press reported.
U.S. authorities said the Internet pharmacies targeted in the investigation sent the drugs to buyers with little or not attempt to confirm buyers' ages or medical needs, which enabled teens and drug abusers to easily obtain addictive and dangerous drugs.
In the U.S., arrests took place in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota, Fla.; Abilene and Tyler, Texas; Greenville, S.C.; Philadelphia; and New York City and Rochester, N.Y.
The Philadelphia-based Internet pharmacy allegedly smuggled in prescription painkillers, amphetamines and steroids from other countries, then repackaged them and sold them to buyers around the world, the AP reported.
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