Garland couple sentenced in illegal animal drug, pesticide case; more than $1.5 million forfeiture ordered
A Garland couple has been sentenced for running a website that sold veterinary drugs and pesticides smuggled into the United States from Mexico, federal prosecutors said.
Thao Duong was sentenced to three months in prison and two years of supervised release and was ordered to forfeit more than $1.5 million. Lam Mai was sentenced to two years of probation, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
"These defendants pumped dangerous, foreign-sourced pesticides and drugs into our country recklessly putting American communities at risk," said U.S. Attorney Ryan R. Raybould for the Northern District of Texas, in a news release.
Prosecutors said Duong began selling animal care products online around 2011, primarily to people involved in rooster fighting. She also sold veterinary drugs produced in Mexico that were not approved by the FDA for use in the U.S.
In 2017, she began selling the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz, neither of which was registered with the EPA for legal sale or use in the U.S.
In 2018, Duong launched a website that became her main outlet for selling the products.
Prosecutors said she arranged to buy veterinary drugs and pesticides that she knew had been smuggled from Mexico into California. The products were placed in storage units near the border before being shipped to Texas.
Between 2018 and 2022, Duong obtained about $2.4 million worth of smuggled merchandise.
Mai served as the shipping manager, packaging orders and sending products to customers across the country via the U.S. Postal Service and other shippers.
The EPA said Taktic and Bovitraz contain amitraz, which can pose risks to bees and potentially humans when improperly used in beehives.
The couple "traded human safety and environmental health for illicit profit," said Adam Gustafson, principal deputy assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Energy and Natural Resources Division.
"No one should profit from bringing illegal chemicals into the United States and poisoning American communities," said Jeffrey A. Hall, assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. "Illegal Mexican pesticides and animal steroids are a dangerous combination."
"When individuals smuggle and distribute misbranded and unapproved veterinary drugs, they jeopardize the health of animals," said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Lamb of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)'s Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City Field Office.
The EPA and FDA investigated, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.
CBS News Texas will provide updates as more information becomes available.
