eBay agrees to pay $59 million for selling pill-making equipment that can be used for illegal drugs: DOJ

WASHINGTON – Digital commerce giant eBay agreed to pay $59 million and tighten its security when selling drug manufacturing equipment that can be used to produce illegal drugs, the Justice Department announced Wednesday.

Equipment such as pill presses and encapsulating machines that can be used to produce counterfeit pills that are indistinguishable from legitimate prescription drugs were sold through the website, the DOJ said. The pills are sometimes laced with fentanyl, prosecutors said.

The Controlled Substances Act regulates the sale of manufacturing equipment by requiring identity verification of buyers, record-keeping and reporting to the Drug Enforcement Administration. The department alleged that eBay hadn’t complied with the law when it sold thousands of pill presses and encapsulating machines.

The settlement amount is one of the largest ever penalties paid under the statute’s civil enforcement provisions.

“Counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl are a significant contributor to the deadly overdose epidemic,” said Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta, who heads the department’s Opioid Epidemic Civil Litigation Task Force.

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In addition to the monetary settlement, eBay also has agreed to beef up its compliance program on pill presses, counterfeit molds, stamps, dies, and encapsulating machines.

The department investigated eBay over its sales of industrial machines that can produce thousands of pills an hour. The machines give tablets a specific shape and imprint that can mimic legitimate prescription drugs. Other equipment, called encapsulating machines, pack powder into capsules.

“Through its website, eBay made it easy for individuals across the country to obtain the type of dangerous machines that are often used to make counterfeit pills," said Nikola Kerest, U.S. Attorney for Vermont. "Our investigation revealed that some of these machines were even sold to individuals who were later convicted of drug related crimes."

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Counterfeit pills have fueled the fentanyl wave of the opioid epidemic. In 2022, the most recent year statistics are available, 73,654 people died from a fentanyl overdose in the United States, or more than 200 deaths per day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Fentanyl – pressed into fake pills that look like real prescription medications – is killing Americans. Drug traffickers buy the tools to make fake pills, like pill presses, online,” DEA Administrator Anne Milgram said.  “eBay and other e-commerce platforms must do their part to protect the public.”

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