UPS to pay $40M for illegal drug deliveries
Source: San Francisco Chronicle
Bob Egelko
Published 5:05 pm, Friday, March 29, 2013
(03-29) 17:00 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- United Parcel Service will forfeit $40 million to the government that it collected from pharmacies over seven years for delivering drugs that were illegally purchased online without a prescription, federal prosecutors in San Francisco said Friday.
The agreement allows the company to avoid prosecution. In a joint statement, UPS acknowledged it had been on notice that some of the pharmacies were violating the law, but did not close their accounts.
The sales took place across the country from 2003 to 2010. According to the statement by both sides, company officials met with federal law enforcement agencies five times from 2004 through 2006 to discuss UPS's role in stopping illegal Internet pharmacies.
A UPS representative testified twice to Congress, in 2004 and 2005, that the Atlanta company was making sure it was not shipping illegally sold medicines or drugs.
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Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/UPS-to-pay-40M-for-illegal-drug-deliveries-4395913.php
Trillo
(9,154 posts)Oh, wait a minute....
bluedigger
(17,088 posts)Just the delivery guys.
Trascoli
(194 posts)paaaalease.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)FedEx is being threatened by the DEA too, but it seems to have a little more gumption:
http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle/2013/mar/29/dea_targets_fedex_ups_online_pha
FedEx may prove a tougher nut to crack. Officials there called the federal probe "absurd and disturbing" and said it threatened customer privacy. They also accused the DEA of failing to cooperate with them in efforts to resolve the problem.
"We are a transportation company we are not law enforcement, we are not doctors and we are not pharmacists," FedEx spokesman Patrick Fitzgerald said in a prepared statement. "We have no interest in violating the privacy of our customers by opening and inspecting their packages in an attempt to determine the legality of the contents. We stand ready and willing to support and assist law enforcement. We cannot, however, do their jobs for them."
FedEx complained that rather than working with the shipping industry to come up with solutions, the Justice Department appeared focused on finding ways to prosecute shippers.
"This is unwarranted by law and a dangerous distraction at a time when the purported illegal activity by these pharmacies continues," Fitzgerald said.
FedEx has been a major campaign contributor to US Rep. John Mica (R-FL), whom the Sentinel reported had sent a letter to Leonhart and Attorney General Eric Holder asking them to recognize "the difficulty and unfairness of requiring those carriers to assume responsibility for the legality and validity of the contents of the millions of sealed packages that they pick up and deliver ever day."
Mica told the Sentinel that while he is "concerned about prescription drugs," it was inefficient to try to turn shipping companies into drug policy enforcers. "You can't stop commerce; you can't open every package," Mica said. "I'm only asking them for a reasonable approach."
But it doesn't appear that DEA and the Justice Department are interested in that.
2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)Elvin Ives
(65 posts)For doing something like this. It's always a settlement or a fine.
naaman fletcher
(7,362 posts)It's not UPS's job to be the cops.
airplaneman
(1,240 posts)The "illegal drugs" are often real drugs at much reduced prices. For many poor its $100.00 to see a doctor and $300 per month for the no-insurance price. The same drug can be purchased for $75.00 per month without a prescription. The choice to them is get it "illegally" or forget getting it at all. If it is really needed ending this ability will end the use of the drugs at the same time.
-Airplane
Festivito
(13,452 posts)It should be easy enough to catch the senders red-handed. This UPS deal looks more like extortion.
Jazzgirl
(3,744 posts)Those shipments pass through Customs before they even get to UPS. it is their responsibility to inspect the shipments when they cross the border. I know Fedex and UPS are Republican hacks but this doesn't make sense. They are letting Customs totally off the hook.