HOUSTON — A fourth co-conspirator involved in a scheme to manufacture and traffic counterfeit Adderall pills laced with methamphetamines on the dark web has been sentenced to prison following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Houston and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Marco Juarez, a 37-year-old resident of Houston, was sentenced Dec. 2 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to 10 years in federal prison to be immediately followed by five years of supervised release for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Three other Houston residents who were also involved in the scheme, Alexander Fernandez, 33, Christopher Houser, 36, and Alexis Sandoval, 26, were previously convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and were sentenced to 20, 3, and 10 years in federal prison respectively.
“Trafficking counterfeit prescription medications laced with deadly and highly addictive narcotics is extremely dangerous and has been a major contributor to the ongoing drug epidemic that is destroying communities across the country,” said HSI Houston acting Special Agent in Charge Robert Kurtz. “Leveraging HSI’s unique cross-border authorities and extensive expertise in cyber and narcotics investigations, we were able to pierce the veil of anonymity that these drug traffickers falsely believed they possessed by operating on the dark web, to expose their conspiracy and hold them accountable for their actions.”
HSI’s investigation began in 2020 after it was discovered that Fernandez had ordered numerous items that are frequently used to manufacture counterfeit pills including pill press machines, pill stamps, dyes, and bulking agents.
Authorities executed a search warrant at a residence in Fulshear in October 2020 and seized approximately seven kilograms of crystal methamphetamines and four kilograms of counterfeit Adderall pills and powder laced with meth. A search at a second residence in Fulshear led to the discovery and seizure of an additional five kilograms of counterfeit Adderall pills.
Once the counterfeit narcotics were produced, they were sold on the darknet, a subset of the dark web that requires specialized software and permission to gain access, where transnational criminal organizations and other bad actors often traffic illicit items to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Juarez was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen M. Lansden prosecuted the case.
For more news and information on HSI Houston’s efforts to aggressively investigate drug trafficking and cybercrime in Southeast Texas follow us on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSIHouston.