Two Pakistani nationals sentenced for pharma smuggling

Two Pakistani nationals were sentenced by a U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to charges of operating Internet sites to illegally sell and ship pharmaceuticals from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to the United States.    The U.S. Justice Department on Friday said two Pakistani nationals were sentenced by the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., after pleading guilty to charges of operating Internet sites to illegally sell and ship pharmaceuticals from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to the United States.
   The two men, Sheikh Waseem Ul Haq and Tahir Saeed, have been held in continuous custody since their October 2012 arrest in London.
   They operated Internet sites that, from late 2005 until October 2012, illegally shipped $2 million of pharmaceuticals from Pakistan and the United Kingdom to customers worldwide, including nearly $780,000 in sales to U.S. purchasers, the Justice Department said.
   The drugs shipped to the United states included methylphenidate (Ritalin); various anabolic steroids; alprazolam (Xanax); diazepam (Valium), lorazepam (Ativan); clonazepam (Klonapin) and other controlled and non-controlled substances.
   The district court sentenced the two men to time served. They will remain in federal custody, however, pending their deportation from the United States to Pakistan. In addition to their prison terms, each defendant agreed to forfeit $388,265.11, the Justice Department said.