3 Charged in Illegal Pharmaceutical Sales
A three-month investigation by the district attorney’s office has led to charges against an Orange County family of storing and selling illegal pharmaceuticals including Dipyrone, a dangerous painkiller banned in at least 22 countries.
Marcos Perez Ramirez, 26, of Santa Ana, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to multiple counts of possessing and selling controlled substances and misbranded drugs.
His wife, Ana Edilia Mota, 24, and his mother, Eliza Ramirez De Perez, 62, also were charged, but their arraignments were postponed. All three are free on their own recognizance.
Ramirez, his wife and mother were first given citations in June at a swap meet at Orange Coast College where authorities seized 460 types of medicines from various booths including those run by Ramirez and his family.
In May, police served a search warrant and confiscated drugs at an herbal medicine store in Santa Ana, Farmacia Naturista, run by another member of the family. There, authorities found four coolers with illegal medicine worth close to $5,000.
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