The Department of Justice provided photographs showing defendant Isis Navarro Reyes on TikTok allegedly marketing “adulterated” popular weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Mesofrance and Axcion.
Federal investigators are cracking down on the illegal sale of wildly popular diabetes and weight-loss drugs online, and this week, a New York woman without a medical license was charged with selling “adulterated” and “misbranded” versions of demand products such as Ozempic, Axcion. and Mesotherapy on TikTok, has been arrested.
Isis Navarro Reyes 36, was arrested Wednesday and charged with six counts, including smuggling, conspiracy to introduce and deliver a misbranded drug for interstate commerce, dispensing a misbranded drug while held for sale and far more.
Prosecutors say Reyes coordinated the shipment of the “adulterated” drugs from Central and South America, including El Salvador and Mexico, and that his scheme relied heavily on removing victims from his Social Networks.
Through his TikTok platform, Reyes marketed and sold the contraband injectable weight-loss drugs online for about a year, allegedly telling people about his personal experiences taking them before also instructing his audience on how drugs could also be injected.
According to an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York, Reyes would advertise his phone number in the videos and encourage interested buyers to send him cash through Zelle.
This January, according to a Justice Department statement, an undercover agent contacted Reyes to buy Ozempic from him and agreed to send him $375.
Shirley’s wife in New York never asked for a prescription. After a few days, the undercover agent received the drugs in the mail and noted that their labeling was written only in Spanish, a violation of FDA regulations.
Investigators said they also learned that from November to June 2023, one of Reyes’ victims had injected herself no fewer than 28 times with another weight-loss drug he allegedly sold them. Similar to Ozempic, this victim bought the drug, Mesofrance.
Reyes told his alleged victim to inject himself every three days, and in July 2023, prosecutors say the victim “began to develop lesions.”
When the victim asked Reyes for help and sent photos, none came. They went to the doctor, and their doctor diagnosed them with “mycobacterium abscessus infection,” something that can cause skin and soft tissue problems, bone and joint infections, and is usually the result of contaminated medical equipment.
“Around November 2023, the New York Department of Health tested one of the vials of Mesofrance that Victim-1 purchased from REYES. The substance tested positive for Mycobacterium abscessus, a species of non-tuberculous mycobacteria, resistant to multi-drug and fast-growing,” prosecutors said.
Reyes faces potentially serious prison time. Smuggling alone carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Left: Photo provided by the Department of Justice purportedly shows a TikTok video posted by Isis Navarro Reyes instructing viewers on how to use injectable weight loss drugs that she is accused of smuggling into the U.S. Right: An alleged drug shipment was sent by Reyes to an undercover police officer. DOJ photos.
An attorney for the Long Island woman could not immediately be reached for comment.
Investigators emphasized that so far none of the Ozempic that Reyes sold to an undercover agent was “non-genuine” but tainted.
“Reyess alleged that the illegal dispensing of these drugs caused significant and life-threatening injuries to some victims and endangered all of his victims. Recently, public interest in semaglutide and weight loss drugs has skyrocketed, and criminals have tried to take advantage of that interest for their own purposes,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. “With this, the first misbranding and adulteration charges filed related to semaglutide, Reyes will be held accountable for his conduct, and criminals should think twice before trying to sell weight loss drugs without a license to do it. This case makes it clear that you should always be very careful and consult your doctor when buying medicine, especially on social media.”
As Law&Crime recently reported, fad weight loss drugs have been the subject of increased controversy. Several lawsuits were filed last month accusing the makers of Ozempic and Wegovy of pushing out a dangerous product that caused people to need gallbladder removal or paralyzed their stomachs. The manufacturers have denied any challenge to the safety of their products.
Representatives for Ozempic, Axcion and Mesofrance did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
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