Prosecutions and Seizures

Quebec Region

The CBSA charges two individuals with smuggling products for the treatment of erectile dysfunction

Montréal, Quebec, June 4, 2013 — Today, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) filed 37 charges against two Montréal area residents, Alain Elmaleh and Alain Richer, as well as 12 businesses in Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario and British Columbia, for smuggling large quantities of products for the treatment of erectile dysfunction. The individuals were charged under the Customs Act, the Food and Drugs Act and the Criminal Code.

According to evidence gathered by the CBSA Criminal Investigations Division, the accused were importing and distributing drugs—substances not authorized by Health Canada—through Elmaleh's 12 companies. The products were intended for sale on the Internet and in sex shops in various Canadian provinces.

The CBSA's investigation was launched in July 2011, when the border services officers in the cargo section at Montréal-Trudeau Airport intercepted boxes that contained more than 130,000 blue rectangular tadalafil oral films in a commercial shipment from China to a Montréal business.

CBSA investigators also searched the head offices of Elmaleh's businesses in June 2012, seizing over 120,000 loose tablets and capsules and packaging materials.

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For media information

Canada Border Services Agency
Communications – Quebec Region
514-350-6130

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