Shiraz Malik, 34, an alleged international drug trafficker, has been extradited from the Czech Republic to the United States to face criminal charges filed in the Eastern District of California.
Malik, a Pakistani national who resided in Poland, is alleged to have controlled a wide-ranging drug trafficking organization that used the Internet and front companies in Europe to sell various drugs and controlled substances to customers worldwide…
According to the 40-count indictment filed in the Eastern District of California on September 28, 2011, from June 1, 2008 through September 8, 2011, Malik sold pharmaceuticals, drugs, and highly regulated chemicals to customers in the United States, Europe, Mexico and other countries and conspired to launder the profits of that activity. According to court documents, Malik was in charge of an operation that involved persons in multiple countries who collected and shipped his products and assisted in money laundering.
In May 2008, DEA agents learned of two business-to-business Internet websites on which businesses were offering to sell and illegally import into the United States pharmaceutical drugs such as Oxycontin, which are Controlled Substances under U.S. law, and regulated chemicals such as ephedrine HCL, which is a precursor chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine. Two businesses that were offering controlled substances through the websites were Shama Medical Store in Karachi, Pakistan and Good Luck Trading Company in the United Kingdom. Both businesses referred customers to email addresses associated with Shiraz Malik.
According to court documents, undercover agents, primarily using email communications, made numerous purchases of pharmaceutical drugs, ephedrine, ketamine (a commonly abused anesthetic), and heroin from both Shama Medical and Good Luck Trading. Malik had the drugs shipped to the agents in Sacramento. Malik also sent them numerous samples of various pharmaceutical drugs, heroin, and methamphetamine in order to obtain their business. Malik maintained at least two bank accounts in Poland that he used to receive payments for Internet drug purchases from undercover agents.
DEA press release link: click here