Source: United States Attorneys General
Otilio Rodriguez Toledo and Alicia Aispuro Hernandez, husband and wife from Thermal, California, were sentenced today for conspiring to smuggle and distribute Mexican pesticides and veterinary drugs that are not approved for use in the United States. Toledo was sentenced to five months in prison followed by 24 months of supervised release. Hernandez was sentenced to time served followed by 18 months of supervised release. Both were ordered to jointly pay $2.19 million in forfeiture.
“This case reflects our commitment to defend our southern border against those who traffic in unlawful substances that jeopardize the health and safety of Americans,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The Justice Department will hold accountable those who violate our environmental and customs laws, and we will ensure that they do not profit from their crimes.”
“Selling illegal pesticides and veterinary drugs endangers people, animals, and the environment,” said U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon for the Southern District of California. “Our office will continue to prosecute those individuals who disregard the dangerous consequences of their illegal smuggling.”
“Today’s sentencing sends a clear message that we will not tolerate the smuggling of unregistered pesticides. Defendants smuggled unregistered pesticides that are toxic to bees, and to humans,” said Deputy Assistant Administrator for Management Cecil Rodrigues of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Defendants deliberately put people at risk for their own profit and are now being held accountable for their egregious actions.”
“The FDA regulates animal drugs as part of its mission to protect the public health, which includes ensuring that prescription animal drugs are lawfully distributed and dispensed pursuant to a valid prescription,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Wade Moon of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City Field Office. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who distribute prescription animal drugs unlawfully.”
“There is a reason customs laws exist particularly when pesticides and chemicals are attempting to make their way into our country to potentially wreak havoc on our environment and potentially make people seriously ill,” said Special Agent in Charge Shawn Gibson for HSI San Diego. “Success of this investigation is directly attributed to the cooperation of multiple law enforcement agencies working together to ensure uncommon illegal substance don’t make their way into our nation causing irrecoverable damage.”
According to filings and evidence presented in court, since at least December 2018, Toledo and Hernandez had engaged in smuggling pesticides and veterinary drugs from Mexico into the United States and then distributing them in the United States. The pesticides involved were primarily Taktic and Bovitraz, which are not registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in the United States. The smuggled veterinary drugs included Tetragent Aves, Metabolase, Terramicina, Cipio Vet, Baytril Max, Tylovet, Caterrol, Penicilina, and Tylosma, which are not approved by the FDA for use in the United States.
The smuggled pesticides and veterinary drugs were brought into the United States through the Calexico Port of Entry in Imperial County, California, and placed in storage units near the border. Smugglers would then send photographs of the products at the storage units as proof of delivery. These defendants would then pick up the products from the storage units and distribute them to others within the United States.
According to the EPA, the active ingredient in the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz is amitraz, which is toxic to bees if released into hives, and then ultimately to humans when it ends up in honey, honeycomb, and beeswax. Misuse of amitraz-containing products in beehives can result in exposures that could cause neurological effects and possibly reproductive effects in humans from the consumption of contaminated honey. Signs of neurotoxicity from exposure to amitraz have been documented in multiple animal species and include central nervous system depression, decrease in pulse rate, and hypothermia.
The EPA, FDA, and HSI investigated the case.
Assistant Section Chief Stephen Da Ponte of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Van Demark for the Southern District of California prosecuted the case.