Counterfeit and Misbranded Medication Seized from Vendors at Minnesota Night Market

Bust by Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department is the second time the same Saint Paul southeast Asian market has been raided. In 2013, seven vendors were charged for selling non-FDA approved medication.

A recent raid at a Hmong night market in Minnesota has turned up pills, needles, syringes and expired medication, according to a report in The Pioneer Press. They also report that an anonymous tip led to the discovery at two stalls in the night market.

Investigator Kevin Navara stated in his request for a warrant that “In the past 90 days, [I have] been contacted by a Concerned Citizen from within the Hmongtown Market who has expressed their concern about several booths who are selling pills and medicines again.”

This was not the first time that counterfeit and misbranded medication have been found at this particular Hmong night market. According to the Pioneer Press, in 2013 seven people were charged with “unlawful sale of prescription drugs, adulterated or misbranded drugs and similar offenses at Hmongtown Marketplace.”

A 2013 story in the Pioneer Press noted that authorities seized hundreds of pounds of unmarked or misbranded drugs from market stalls at that time. According to the 2013 reports that “the sheriff’s office said suspected sodium cyanide, steroids, penicillin and opiates were recovered from more than 15 vendor stalls.”
By S. Imber