Dateline: July 25, 2014

FedEx knew exactly what it was doing in 2000 when it began shipping prescription drugs from illegal online pharmacies to drug dealers and addicts, according to a 15-count indictment filed in a federal court against the shipping giant by the U.S. Department of Justice for the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)

Federal prosecutors say FedEx knew it was shipping federally controlled prescription drugs ordered through the websites of Chhabra-Smoley Organization and Superior Drugs, both known at the time to be illegal online pharmacies.

“FedEx knew that it was delivering drugs to dealers and addicts,” stated the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Northern District of California in a press release.

According to the indictment, FedEx “knowingly and intentionally conspired” with the online pharmacies to distribute Schedule III and IV prescription drugs including Ambien, Phentermine, Diazepam, and Alprazolam to consumers who had no legitimate medical need for them based solely on bogus prescriptions issued by sketchy doctors “acting outside the usual course of professional practice.”

‘We're Not Cops,’ FedEx Tells Feds

In its response to the indictment, FedEx not only denied the charges, it harshly reminded the DEA that enforcing drug laws was not its job.

“We are a transportation company -- we are not law enforcement,” said FedEx senior vice president for marketing, Patrick Fitzgerald, in a written statement.

“We continue to stand ready and willing to support and assist law enforcement,” said Patrick Fitzgerald, adding, “We cannot, however, do the job of law enforcement ourselves.”

The Charges Say Otherwise

But far from standing ready to “support and assist law enforcement,” the indictment presents evidence that FedEx actually created intricate internal procedures to protect the illegal online pharmacies from the DEA.

Since losing shipping accounts reflected badly on the performance its salespeople, FedEx managers were concerned by the frequent closures of the pharmacies by the DEA.

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“I can assure you that these types of accounts will always result in a loss at some point,” a FedEx employee is quoted as saying in the indictment. “They have a very short lifespan and will eventually be shut down by the DEA.”

To deal with that problem, the indictment charges that FedEx created a “catchall” generic account category for the online pharmacies that was not tied to corporate sales goals. Once placed in the “catchall” category, FedEx account managers would not suffer pay cuts if the pharmacy was closed by the DEA.

‘We Want Our Drugs and We Want Then Now’

The indictment also shows that FedEx delivery drivers complained that their “trucks had been stopped on the road by Internet pharmacy customers demanding packages of pills.” Delivery addresses sent the drivers to places like “parking lots, schools, and vacant homes, where people would wait for deliveries of drugs,” often actually jumping on the FedEx trucks demanding delivery of their Internet pharmacy packages.

According to the indictment, FedEx’s senior vice president of security solved this problem by approving a procedure under which “Internet pharmacy packages from problematic shippers were held for pick up at specific (FedEx) stations.”

What the Government Wants

The indictment demands that FedEx pay the government the $820,000 it earned by helping the illegal online pharmacies 

“While DEA is committed to ensuring patients receive legitimate prescriptions, today’s action should send a strong message that corporations that participate in illegal activity risk investigation and prosecution,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Jay Fitzpatrick in a statement.

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