All Veterinary Supply, Inc. (AVS), a veterinary supply company based in Doral, Florida, has pleaded guilty to one count of introducing and delivering misbranded drugs into interstate commerce. The company was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark A. Kearney to three years of probation, an $18,000 fine, and ordered to forfeit $748,507.25—the amount representing the company’s gross profit from the illegal sales.
The charges stemmed from AVS’s unlawful distribution of xylazine outside the scope of its state permit. The permit did not allow AVS to sell drugs to other wholesalers.
Xylazine is approved only for veterinary use in the United States but has increasingly been detected in the illegal drug supply and associated with overdose deaths. Known as “tranq,” xylazine poses significant risks when mixed with fentanyl and can cause serious health issues such as soft tissue necrosis when injected.
According to court documents, AVS sold about 180,993 bottles of xylazine to two main wholesaling customers in Puerto Rico. This violated the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and contributed to xylazine entering the illicit drug market in Philadelphia.
“This case was investigated by the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Anthony D. Scicchitano and Bryan C. Hughes, with Department of Justice Trial Attorneys Steven R. Scott and Brett Ruff of the Civil Division’s Enforcement & Affirmative Litigation Branch, former DOJ Trial Attorney Michael Wadden, and EDPA contract investigator Michael Sullivan,” said U.S. Attorney David Metcalf.
