Internet pharmacy - drugs without prescriptions

An Internet pharmacy based in India that sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of drugs without prescriptions has been indicted by U.S. authorities, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday. The ring sold drugs such as codeine and a generic version of &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/fun/2001/09/12/ ' target=_blank>Viagra to Web site operators who then sold them to consumers, according to a grand jury indictment unsealed on Wednesday after more than a dozen arrests were made. The organization was based in Agra, India, where defendant Brij Bhushan Bansal, a doctor, headed a family business that sent the drugs to the United States, the indictment charged. Authorities did not specify if he had been arrested. Other defendants included Bansal's son, his daughter and his son-in-law, tells Reuters.

According to the Waashington Post, officials said 20 people have been arrested so far this week in the United States and abroad in what they called the first Internet drug bust involving an international supplier. More than 200 Web sites got their drugs through the ring, the officials said.