She was also charged with violation of introduction of misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, and receipt and delivery of misbranded drugs in interstate commerce.
The crime was committed between Feb. 24 and May 6, 2011, according to U.S. Food and Drugs Administration special agent Garrett Chinn’s affidavit filed in federal court yesterday.
The FDA conducted the investigation on Cia Xia Xu, jointly with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations.
Early this year, another Chinese national, Wei Yuan Ou, pleaded guilty to an information that charged him with misbranding of a food product, which carries a maximum penalty of one year imprisonment. He is due for sentencing this July.
The prosecution said Wei Yuan Ou sold each fake Viagra pill for $5.
The joint investigation on Cai Xia Xu started on Feb. 20 when federal agents interviewed a confidential source who claimed that the defendant could sell 50 to 100 bottles of Viagra.
The confidential source said that the defendant was a “big supplier” of Viagra, according to court documents.
On Feb. 24, the defendant sold 20 bottles of Viagra to the confidential source. Each bottle contained 30 pieces of 100 mg tablets. The 20 bottles were worth $620.
Analysis by the FDA’s Forensic Chemistry Center revealed that the label and foil were “not authentic,” and each bottle was marked incorrectly with a wrong cycle code.
“The residual solvent profile observed was not consistent with the profile observed historically for authentic Viagra,” according to Chinn.
The defendant told the confidential source to place an advance order because the shipment would take about two months to arrive on Saipan. The confidential source ordered 200 bottles, Chinn added.
On May 2, the defendant sold Viagra to the confidential source: 10 bottles with 30 Viagra tablets, amounting to $310, and 20 bottles with 30 Viagra tablets, amounting to $620.
An official from Pfizer Global Security said the labeling and the Viagra tablets purchased from the defendant on May 2 “were both counterfeit.”
On May 6, the defendant called up the confidential source and said she had 100 bottles of Viagra for sale.
After the defendant and the confidential source exchanged Viagra tablets and money amounting $310 for 10 bottles near the intersection of As Perdido Road and Iriko Drive, the defendant was detained and transported for immigration verification.
“Prior to any questioning of [the defendant] concerning the offense conduct, Xu made an excited utterance by stating that she didn’t know the Viagra was counterfeit,” Chinn said.
