Billion-dollar pharmaceutical bankruptcy in Houston

HOUSTON – Charges have been unsealed in connection with a major drug raid that was part of a criminal operation that distributed $1.3 billion in black market opioids and other drugs.

Most of the 13 defendants, including three Houstonians, have pleaded guilty. It was a sophisticated scheme in which prescription drug dealers funneled drugs like oxycodone into pill mills in Houston.

Houston is considered a hotbed of the black market for pharmaceutical opioids. The city's major east-west and north-south highways allow for easy distribution.

This investigation began in 2019 and targeted distributors of pharmaceutical opioids and other commonly abused prescription drugs. Five distribution companies legally purchased drugs from major pharmaceutical companies and then delivered them to pill mills, mostly in Houston. The drugs were sold there based on illegal prescriptions.

Velencia Griffin, 42, Kendal Lyons, 29, and Andre Reid, 44, of Houston, pleaded guilty in the Southern District of Texas to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute and deliver and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. Each faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years.

Ten other people in other states – executives, sales representatives and brokers – were also arrested. Seven of them have pleaded guilty.

“Look, the biggest thing about this case is that we're going after drug dealers, but drug dealers in a different light. Many of these drug dealers wore lab coats with name tags. They own pharmacies. They are leaders. She” “Re-educated. But they are still drug dealers,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Daniel Comeaux.

The group sold 70 million pills and 30 million doses of other drugs on the black market, worth $1.3 billion.

The pill mills were often pop-up businesses that were licensed to operate for a short time, then closed and moved on, staying one step ahead of law enforcement.

The DEA's diversion team, which monitors drug sales, discovered and investigated these small “mom and pop” pharmacies that were generating unusually high sales.

Agents said this ring contributed significantly to the opioid crisis.