Sacramento man pleads guilty to importing fake Viagra

A 39 year old man from Sacramento has pleaded guilty in court, to the charge of importing fake erectile dysfunction medicines.

Troy James Taylor shipped the illegal pills to the US from Shanghai, China. His operation was discovered when US border officials seized 1,000 tablets of counterfeit Viagra and Cialis which were destined for Taylor.

Before police got to him, between 2007 and 2008, the court heard that Taylor had sold numerous tablets through Craigslist and other avenues. He will be sentenced on June 2nd.

Counterfeiting is a huge problem, for drug companies, governments, and most of all, for the people who inadvertently end up consuming these medications. Because counterfeits are unlicensed, they do not undergo the stringent clinical tests that genuine, branded pills do. As a result, they may contain dangerous, undeclared ingredients, or contain the wrong dosage of an ingredient. This can lead to illness or even death in extreme scenarios.

Many counterfeiting production plants are in the Far East, with the drugs they produce being shipped to America and Europe. Authorities are growing increasingly wise to the practices employed by these criminals, but with gangs having realised that counterfeiting can be as lucrative as selling illegal drugs, the trade is likely to be an ongoing problem. Only official Viagra, Cialis and Levitra can reliably treat the symptoms of erectile dysfunction. To find out more about these medications and how to recognised them in their authentic form, speak to a medical professional for more advice.