UK, US enforcers bust £1m pharma crime gang

Three people from London in the UK have been sentenced in connection with the large-scale importation and distribution of unregulated medicines into the UK from India.

The three defendants – Salman Ansari (33), Waqas Saleem (33) and Ansari's wife Juhi (32) of Wembley in North London – were found guilty during a six-week trial of illegally importing the drugs, repackaging them, and distributing them internationally.

Over 730kg of drugs were seized during the operation, according to City Of London Police, which worked on the investigation in collaboration with the US FDA and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). In total, there were more than 1m tablets seized, including strong opioids such as tapentadol and tramadol, and benzodiazepines including zolpidem, zopiclone and nitrazepam.

Both types of drugs are commonly misused for their sedation effect and can be fatal when combined.

"Many of the drugs seized are unregulated products for the UK market, with the investigation team encountering counterfeited brands such as Xanax with flubromazolam where the pills dose and potency unknown," said Detective Constable Syed Shah from the City of London Police.

The crackdown was prompted by the seizure of medicine-containing shipments sent from the UK to the US that were intercepted by customs in 2020. By tracing the packages being sent from the UK, City of London Police’s Serious Organised Crime Team (SOCT) was able to identify Ansari and Saleem as being responsible for the shipment of the drugs as well as the location where they were storing the drugs in Vermont.

Tracing packages being sent from UK airports to JFK, officers were also able to identify drop-off locations of the drugs in the US. That also led to the discovery of a storage unit used by the gang in Wembley containing thousands of blister packs of what purported to be pharmaceutical-grade drugs.

Financial investigations revealed that Salman Ansari had more than 11 bank accounts in his name, with a credit turnover of £1.09m ($1.41m), which vastly outweighed any declared or legitimate income. Various complex money laundering techniques were utilised, where funds from illicit sales were made in various cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and transferred to individuals in India.

Salman Ansari was found guilty of 12 counts of possession with intent to supply Class A, B and C drugs, one count of conspiracy to supply Class C drugs, and one count of money laundering. He was sentenced to six years in prison.

Waqas  Saleem was found guilty of the same offences and received a two-and-a-half-year sentence, while Juhi Ansari was found guilty of one count of money laundering and received a suspended sentence but will be required to complete 100 hours of unpaid work and 25 days of rehab.