Shipping company FedEx was indicted on Wednesday for shipping drugs for illegal online pharmacies. The second largest shipping company was warned by the Drug Enforcement Administration and other federal agencies that their services were used to illegally distribute drugs, like oxycodone and hydrocodone, for nearly a decade.
The indictment described fearful FedEx’s couriers in Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia, who told senior FedEx managers that they worried for their safety. Delivery addresses for the pills included schools, abandoned homes, and parking lots, where carloads of people would be idly sitting, awaiting their packages.
Patrick Fitzgerald, senior vice president for marketing and communications, denied all allegations in a written statement, saying it was unreasonable to expect FedEx to take responsibility for the contents of the 10 million packages it delivers each day.
“We are a transportation company — we are not law enforcement,” he said.
According to the indictment, FedEx knowingly shipped drugs for two illegal Internet pharmacies, the Chhabra-Smoley Organization and Superior Drugs. They were warned at least six times that online illegal pharmacies used the global shipper to deliver drugs.
FedEx said they would fight all charges.