Following the death last year of a man and woman in Hamburg, federal authorities are taking action against Chinese websites that sell illegal and potentially dangerous drugs and chemicals.
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. says three of those websites have been seized and shut down by the government.
“Websites such as these are nothing more than technologically enhanced, street corner drug dealers,” Hochul said in a statement today.
The sites, according to prosecutors, listed more than 20 different synthetic narcotics available for sale, including Fentanyl, Bath Salts and Methylone.
The websites the government shut down are kerrypharm.com, kaseeypharm.com and kx-researchchem.com.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard D. Kaufman said Homeland Security investigators here and across the country have spent the past year investigating the increase in illegally controlled substances purchased from websites operated by Chinese companies.
The government’s seizures of the sites followed two recent tragedies believed to be connected to the websites.
In August, two people in Hamburg, a man and a woman, were found dead, and autopsies confirmed they died of intoxication from drugs that came from China.
Two months later, a 17-year-old Western New York girl ended up in a coma after taking Methylone. Investigators believe the drug arrived here after being purchased from a Chinese website.
The girl has since recovered.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. says three of those websites have been seized and shut down by the government.
“Websites such as these are nothing more than technologically enhanced, street corner drug dealers,” Hochul said in a statement today.
The sites, according to prosecutors, listed more than 20 different synthetic narcotics available for sale, including Fentanyl, Bath Salts and Methylone.
The websites the government shut down are kerrypharm.com, kaseeypharm.com and kx-researchchem.com.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard D. Kaufman said Homeland Security investigators here and across the country have spent the past year investigating the increase in illegally controlled substances purchased from websites operated by Chinese companies.
The government’s seizures of the sites followed two recent tragedies believed to be connected to the websites.
In August, two people in Hamburg, a man and a woman, were found dead, and autopsies confirmed they died of intoxication from drugs that came from China.
Two months later, a 17-year-old Western New York girl ended up in a coma after taking Methylone. Investigators believe the drug arrived here after being purchased from a Chinese website.
The girl has since recovered.
email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com