Two men charged with distributing mislabeled drugs in Rhode Island and Massachusetts

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said that two men were charged in an ongoing investigation into the introduction of a misbranded drug imported from India and distributed in Rhode Island and elsewhere in the Northeast without FDA approval.

74-year-old Jitender Behl, East Greenwich, was charged with receipt in interstate commerce of misbranded drugs and introducing misbranded drugs, while 58-year-old Mahr Ahmed, of Attleboro, introduction of misbranded drugs.

Behl allegedly imported hundreds of thousands of pills from India that contained the pharmaceutical ingredient sildenafil citrate, a drug commonly used for erectile dysfunction and can harmful to persons taking heart medications containing nitrates by lowering their blood pressure to dangerous levels.

Behl allegedly repackaged the pill and , marketed them as being an all-natural dietary supplement for erectile dysfunction under the brand names of “JMY.”

The drugs were then distributed by a wholesale distributor, Noor Inc., in Providence, which was owned by Ahmed.

Bloom said that law enforcement seized more than 130,000 imported sildenafil pills and tablets, more than 650 grams of imported sildenafil soft gel capsules, and approximately 21,700 empty Mylar bags allegedly used for packaging the illicit product.

Noor then sold JMY to retail outlets in the Northeast, including Rhode Island and Massachusetts.

Bloom said that Ahmed agreed to plead guilty.