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News
Release FOR
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION, CONTACT: DEA
TAKEDOWN NETS MULTI-TON
In addition to the arrest of Patel, a federal criminal search warrant and administrative inspection warrant were served on the company. DEA agents and diversions investigators searching the company seized multiple tons of ephedrine and psuedoephedrine along with 100 boxes of evidence and computer records. Ephedrine and psuedoephedrine are the essential ingredients in the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine, commonly known as speed. The seizure represents the largest such domestic seizure of diverted chemicals since 1995.
As a result of this action, Bharat Patel, the President of Neil Labs and brother of Mantubhai Patel, was served with an immediate suspension order. The order effectively closes down Neil Laboratories ability to manufacture products containing ephedrine or pseudoephedrine until a future hearing. The suspension order followed numerous warning letters issued to Neil Labs between February 1999 and April 2001, citing 50 law enforcement actions in eleven states which resulted in the identification of 3.5 million pseudoephedrine tablets that had been diverted for illegal purposes. The quantities diverted were sufficient to manufacture hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine. An audit conducted of Neil Labs in August 2000 revealed that the company had distributed 250 million pseudoephedrine tablets to 45 distributors nationwide in a 20-month period. The DEA took enforcement action against many of Neil Labs distributors over this period because they were diverting the tablets to retail outlets, including head shops, liquor stores, tobacco stores, and other retail outlets not normally involved in the sale of over-the-counter non-prescription drugs. SAC Anthony Cammarato stated, The magnitude of this operation underscores the serious threat that methamphetamine poses to this country. Over the course of this investigation, 13 Neil Lab distributors and customers nationwide have terminated chemical distributions and surrendered their chemical registrations to the DEA. Patel was arraigned on Thursday in federal court in Newark and held on one million dollars bail. The investigation was conducted by the DEA with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service, the Food and Drug Administration, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Customs Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States Attorneys office in Newark is prosecuting the case. For further details on the investigation, please visit the DEAs website at www.dea.gov and refer to Operation Mountain Express III under major operations. |