Explainer: eBay and the Department of Justice settle over pill press sales

The law regarding pill press transactions says that anyone who is a broker for an international transaction involving a pill press has recordkeeping and reporting obligations. According to the settlement, ebay did not meet those requirements:

During the Relevant Time Period, transactions involving pill-making machines occurred on eBay’s online marketplace, including sales of pill presses that were shipped to buyers in the United States...eBay did not comply with the CSA’s reporting and recordkeeping obligations in connection with any transactions of pill-making machines on the platform....eBay failed to maintain certain records for transactions involving pill-making equipment, as required by 21 U.S.C. § 830(a). Because eBay did not verify purchasers’ identifications, eBay did not record the type of identification information required by the CSA. Despite the thousands of transactions that occurred on its online marketplaces, eBay did not report any transactions involving pill-making machines to the DEA, as required by the CSA, 21 U.S.C. § 830(b)(1)(D).

eBay did not admit any wrongdoing in the settlement.

Criminals who make counterfeit medicine—both controlled substances disguised as pills and fake therapeutics—use the machines to press ingredients into familiar pill shapes. Fake oxycodone or Xanax made with fentanyl or other dangerous drugs are a significant source of fatal poisonings that are killing Americans. Counterfeiters also manufacture fake therapeutics, such as blood thinners with no active ingredient. Pills like these endanger Americans by failing to treat or under-treating health conditions that can be deadly, like blood clots.

For a longer explanation, see “What’s a pill press?” below.

Deadly fake pills, whether they are fake opioids that contain fentanyl, or pills that are supposed to be blood thinner but are just chalk, kill thousands of people in the U.S. every year. To make them, you need a machine that presses powder ingredients into the shape of a pill. A simple one looks like this machine with the wheel in the photo. There’s actually a second pill press on the floor, to the left of the larger one. These were seized in January 2024 by police in Meridien, Mississippi.

photo by MS DPS

What's a pill press mold?

A pill mold is a small piece of metal that presses the powder ingredients into a pill shape. Here’s an image of a pill mold PSM found for sale online on January 30, 2024. It’s for the most commonly faked pill, the oxycodone M30 pill.

Screenshot of website selling pill molds (PSM)

Where do criminals buy pill presses and molds?

They buy them from a manufacturer that makes them outside the U.S., either through the vendor’s website or an online marketplace. Usually pill presses and molds are shipped internationally through the U.S. mail.

While CBP catches a lot of them, clearly some get through. Not every package can be inspected and law enforcement continues to catch criminals using pill presses.

What are other items needed to make a pill?

If you’re making something with an active ingredient, such as fentanyl or methamphetamine, you can buy that on the black market in person or online. However if the criminal is making a placebo version of therapeutic medicine, such as a blood thinner, they don’t need an active ingredient at all.

For all pills, you need to buy other legal but inert ingredients such as filler powder, colored dyes, and binding agents that hold the mixture together. These are typically not regulated products, and can be bought without resorting to subterfuge.