U.S.
Food and Drug Administration
FDA Consumer magazine
March-April 2002
Table
of Contents
By Linda Bren
On Oct. 29, 1998, when Gerald M. Bevins slowly wheeled his motor home into a McDonald's parking lot outside San Diego, he wasn't looking for a burger and fries. He was there to meet his wife and daughter, who would help him package the prescription drugs he had just smuggled in from Mexico. His next stop was to be a nearby Federal Express facility, where he planned to ship his packages for delivery to customers across America.
But Bevins never made it. After knocking on the door of the motor home and requesting entry, agents from the Food and Drug Administration's Office of Criminal Investigations (OCI), U.S. Customs, and the Postal Service discovered Bevins, his wife, and their daughter sorting and packaging the drugs.
The agents seized the painkillers Percodan (oxycodone) and Darvon (propoxyphene) and other illegally obtained pharmaceuticals. They also seized the motor home. The Bevins family was warned about the illegality of their actions, but not charged at that time.
Federal agents continued to monitor the family's activities for more than two years, accumulating evidence that would eventually lead to their arrest in early 2001. Gerald Bevins, his wife, Priscilla, and their daughter, Michelle, were each charged in a federal indictment with 14 counts, including smuggling, conspiracy to import and distribute controlled substances, and introduction of misbranded drugs into the United States.
Gerald Bevins and his wife and daughter started their illegal mail-order drug business "at least as early as mid-1998," according to the indictment. As part of the operation, the family advertised the availability of a variety of prescription drugs obtained in Mexico on a Web site called Medications Express and also in a "guidebook" sold to prospective customers through a separate Web site.
In addition to Percodan and Darvon, the stimulant Ritalin (methylphenidate), the tranquilizer Valium (diazepam), and the "date rape" drug clonazepam could all be obtained without prescription through the Bevins' company.
For customers, it was almost as easy as placing a retail catalog order. Customers were mailed a list of available drugs and an order form. They were directed to complete the form and mail it with a money order to a post office box in Sun City, Calif. A member of the Bevins family or an associate collected the order forms from the postal box, cashed the money orders, and called or faxed drug sources in Tijuana to fill the orders, according to the indictment.
Agents say that family members drove to Mexico to meet drug sources and to make their purchases. They usually returned to the United States through the international border crossing between San Ysidro, Calif., and Tijuana, the world's busiest port of entry. Sometimes they used different ports of entry and different vehicles. The Bevinses also frequently changed license plates and made dry runs to determine the risk of being stopped and searched.
Once back in the United States, the Bevinses wasted no time. They bundled the drugs into individual shipping packages in vacant lots or parking lots, and addressed the packages with the customer or a fictitious person or business listed as the shipper. They then delivered the packages to a FedEx facility for shipment.
Gerald Bevins' Medications Express Web site first roused the suspicion of the FDA in 1998. The site falsely claimed that U.S. residents could legally obtain pharmaceuticals and controlled substances from foreign pharmacies.
The FDA warned the company that it was in violation of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) in a letter sent to the post office box listed on the Web site. The FFDCA does not allow the importation of unapproved foreign versions of drugs that are approved for use in the United States.
"He used the Internet very effectively to establish a lucrative, albeit illegal, business," says Jud Bohrer, a special agent in charge of the OCI's Los Angeles field office, which investigated the case. "He even quoted language right from the FDA's Web site to lend credence to his effort."
In addition to illegally importing unapproved foreign drugs, the Bevins family broke the law by bringing "misbranded" drugs into the country. Misbranding occurred because the drugs were labeled in a foreign language (Spanish), did not bear adequate directions for use, and were being sold without an appropriate doctor's prescription.
Federal agents arrested Gerald and Priscilla Bevins in February 2001 at one of their homes in Texas. The home was seized by the government. Michelle Bevins was arrested the next day in Riverside County, Calif.
Gerald Bevins pleaded guilty to conspiracy to introduce misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. In September 2001, a judge in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California sentenced him to 24 months in prison and three years supervised release. Priscilla and Michelle Bevins pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting to introduce misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. Priscilla died before she could be sentenced. Michelle was fined $500 and sentenced to three years supervised release.
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