Thao Duong and Lam Mai, a wife and husband from Garland, Texas, were sentenced today in federal court to charges stemming from their operation of a website selling veterinary drugs and pesticides smuggled into the United State from Mexico. Duong was sentenced to three months in prison, two years of supervised release, and a forfeiture of more than $1.5 million. Mai was sentenced to two years of probation.

“The defendants in this case traded human safety and environmental health for illicit profit,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Energy and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). “The Justice Department will continue to investigate and prosecute transnational crimes to secure our border and protect the health and safety of Americans.” 

“No one should profit from bringing illegal chemicals into the United States and poisoning American communities,” said Assistant Administrator Jeffrey A. Hall for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Illegal Mexican pesticides and animal steroids are a dangerous combination. The sentence in this case underscores the importance of the cooperative efforts of federal, state, and local agencies to disrupt smuggling operations and secure our nation’s borders from foreign harm.”

“Trafficking toxic chemicals into the United States is a blatant assault on our national security and public safety,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan R. Raybould for the Northern District of Texas. “These defendants pumped dangerous, foreign sourced pesticides and drugs into our country recklessly putting American communities at risk. This sentence makes clear we will be uncompromising in the prosecution of those who engage in illicit activities that threaten our people, our environment and the integrity of our borders.”

“The FDA is charged with ensuring that veterinary drugs meet rigorous safety standards. When individuals smuggle and distribute misbranded and unapproved veterinary drugs, they jeopardize the health of animals,” said Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Lamb of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s Office of Criminal Investigations, Kansas City Field Office. “We will continue to pursue and bring to justice those who distribute misbranded and unapproved animal drugs unlawfully.”

According to filings and evidence presented in court, in approximately 2011, Duong began using various online platforms to sell animal care products to customers throughout the United States. The products she sold were used primarily by people engaged in rooster fighting ventures. Duong was not a veterinarian and did not require customers to provide veterinary prescriptions to purchase veterinary drugs. She also sold products such as Cipio Vet, Baytril Max, and Caterrol, which are produced in Mexico and not approved by the FDA for use in the United States. In 2017, she added the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz to her inventory. Neither Taktic nor Bovitraz were registered with the EPA for sale or use and could not be sold legally in the United States. 

In 2018, Duong started a website, which she used as her primary means of selling and distributing veterinary drugs and pesticides. After launching the site, Duong entered into agreements with several co-conspirators to purchase veterinary drugs and pesticides that she knew had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico. 

The smuggled pesticides and veterinary drugs were brought into the United States through the Calexico Port of Entry in Imperial County, California, and placed in storage units near the border. Duong’s co-conspirators then shipped the products from California to Texas. Between 2018 and 2022, Duong obtained approximately $2.4 million worth of smuggled merchandise from her co-conspirators. 

Lam Mai was the shipping manager for the website. After orders were received, he packaged the pesticides and veterinary drugs and distributed them to customers throughout the country using the U.S. Postal Service and other shippers. 

According to the EPA, the active ingredient in the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz is amitraz, which is toxic to bees if released into hives, and then ultimately to humans when it ends up in honey, honeycomb, and beeswax. Misuse of amitraz-containing products in beehives can result in exposures that could cause neurological effects and possibly reproductive effects in humans from the consumption of contaminated honey. Signs of neurotoxicity from exposure to amitraz have been documented in multiple animal species and include central nervous system depression, decrease in pulse rate, and hypothermia.

The EPA and FDA investigated the case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Trial Attorney Lauren D. Steele of ENRD’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Vincent J. Mazzurco and Madeleine Case for the Northern District of Texas prosecuted the case. 

ENRD is a member of the Department of Justice’s Trade Fraud Task Force, a cross-agency law enforcement effort that also involves the Criminal and Civil Divisions’ Fraud Sections, ENRD, the Department of Homeland Security, and U.S. Attorney’s Offices nationwide. The Task Force was created to leverage all of the Department’s tools and authorities to prevent trade fraud that deprives the government of vital revenue, threatens critical domestic industries, undermines consumer confidence, and weakens national security. The Task Force is designed to pursue enforcement actions against parties who seek to evade tariffs and other duties, as well as smugglers who seek to import prohibited goods into the American economy. The Justice Department encourages whistleblowers to alert the government to credible allegations of fraud, including utilizing the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act or through the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Program at CorporateWhistleblower@usdoj.gov using the form available here.