Jackson, MS - A Madison County resident has been arrested for selling bogus Viagra from a business in Ridgeland, announced Attorney General Jim Hood today.

Alicia Ospina, 61, of Ridgeland, was arrested recently by an officer with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office on a warrant of the Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection Division.  The warrant followed indictment by a Madison County Grand Jury on two counts of intent to sell, distribute or dispense a substance which was falsely represented to be a prescription drug, in this case counterfeit Viagra (100 milligram tablets).

“It is the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and other such dangerous goods that concerns me the most,” said Attorney General Hood.  “Counterfeit drugs may be loaded with dangerous or ineffective substances, either of which can be deadly to any consumer.”

The sales are alleged to have occurred at Botanica Yoruba, located at 6610 Old Canton Road in Ridgeland where Ospina worked.  The case resulted from a joint operation in August 2010 by The U.S. Attorney’s Office-Northern and Southern Districts (MS), the Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the Food and Drug Administration and the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, all in partnership via Mississippi’s Operation Knock Out Knock-Offs Task Force.  During the joint operation, 26 search warrants were issued at businesses statewide.  Every business was issued a warning letter to cease and desist in the sale of counterfeit pharmaceuticals.  Follow up inspections show that the businesses have heeded the warning.

Ospina was booked into the Madison County Detention Center.  If convicted, she faces up to 10 years (five years per count) behind bars.  As with all cases, the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law. 

This case will be prosecuted by Special Assistant Attorney General Patrick Beasley, Director of the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division.