A Fullerton resident was arrested Wednesday on a federal grand jury indictment alleging he illegally imported and sold erectile dysfunction drugs that were falsely marketed as herbal supplements for men.
Nam Hyun Lee, 60, who also goes by Daniel Lee, was taken into custody at his home, said Thom Mrozek of the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Lee, a Southern Korean national suspected of being in the country illegally, is named in a 12-count indictment alleging conspiracy, three counts of smuggling misbranded drugs into the country and eight counts of introducing misbranded drugs into interstate commerce, Mrozek said.
Lee is accused of establishing companies in Buena Park and Cypress in 2016 and last year to distribute the drugs, but without licenses to do so, Mrozek said.
Federal authorities began eyeing Lee in late 2015 when he allegedly smuggled Tadalafil and Sildenafil Citrate, the primary ingredients in the erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis and Viagra, from China and Hong Kong, Mrozek said.
Lee is accused of smuggling in the drugs in containers falsely labeled as products such as acrylic paint and glass bottles, Mrozek said.
The drugs were smuggled in powder form and then placed into individual-dose capsules, which were sold in convenience stores, online and elsewhere as over-the-counter herbal male sexual enhancement products under the names Rhino, Orgazen, Black Panther, Libigrow, Black Stallion and Black Mamba, prosecutors allege.
The government is also seeking the forfeiture of Lee's $1.2 million Fullerton residence, which prosecutors contend was bought with profits from the alleged drug-dealing scheme, as well as funds contained in several bank accounts, an as-yet undetermined amount of cash seized during the execution of search warrants this morning, and all drugs illegally smuggled into the United States, according to Mrozek.
Lee is expected to be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon before a federal judge in Santa Ana.
The conspiracy count in the indictment carries a statutory maximum penalty of five years in federal prison, while each smuggling count could bring a sentence as high as 20 years and the charges alleging the introduction of misbranded drugs each carry a maximum sentence of three years.
