Two Brentwood-based brothers were arrested today on federal drug trafficking and money laundering charges for allegedly creating a bogus pharmacy to obtain and distribute large quantities of prescription narcotics, including OxyContin, to black-market customers.
Berry Kabov, 44, and his 32-year-old sibling, Dalibor “Dabo” Kabov, are named in an indictment that alleges the operators of Global Compounding Pharmacy in West Los Angeles also illegally imported large quantities of anabolic steroids from China.
The 40-count indictment, unsealed today in Los Angeles federal court, also names Global Compounding LLC as a defendant. Global Compounding was the top purchaser of oxycodone among all pharmacies in the Los Angeles area last year, ordering three times more oxycodone than the second-largest purchaser, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
A search warrant details how the Kabov brothers allegedly used Los Angeles as a base to sell bulk shipments of prescription drugs — including oxycodone, which is commonly sold under the brand name OxyContin — to black-market customers across the country.
Investigators seized parcels containing thousands of hidden oxycodone pills that the Kabov brothers attempted to ship to customers in and around Columbus, Ohio, according to the search warrant affidavit, which alleges that customers in turn made cash deposits into Kabov-controlled bank accounts or simply shipped bulk cash to the brothers.
During recorded calls with an informant that are described in the affidavit, Berry Kabov coordinated the shipments and explained that he could sell oxycodone in New York for as much as $50 per pill, federal prosecutors allege.
Court documents allege that the Kabov brothers operated Global Compounding as a bogus pharmacy to facilitate the acquisition of prescription drugs from the wholesale market.
Federal administrative records show that, between June 2012 and January 2014, the Kabov brothers purchased massive quantities of drugs, including nearly 100,000 in oxycodone pills, as well as tens of thousands of pills of hydrocodone — commonly sold under the brand name Vicodin — and hydromorphone – – commonly sold under the brand name Dilaudid, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
The affidavit described a January 2014 inspection at Global Compounding by the California Board of Pharmacy that led investigators to conclude “that Global Compounding is not a legitimate pharmacy and in fact is a facade for a drug-trafficking operation.”
In coming to that conclusion, state investigators noted a lack of over- the-counter drug products ordinarily carried by legitimate pharmacies and records indicating that many of the prescriptions purportedly being filled by the pharmacy were for patients outside of the Los Angeles area, according to the affidavit.
The indictment also alleges that the brothers engaged in money laundering and the structuring of cash transactions to avoid federal reporting requirements.
The search warrant identifies more than $1.5 million in structured cash deposits into multiple bank accounts controlled by the Kabov brothers. The affidavit details extravagant expenditures, including private jet flights from the Los Angeles area to Las Vegas and other luxury items, prosecutors said.
In addition to the charges related to oxycodone, the indictment alleges that the brothers illegally imported anabolic steroids purchased from a wholesale drug distributor located in Hubei, China. The indictment details how the brothers allegedly used the pharmacy to illegally order bulk quantities of testosterone, oxandrolone and nandrolone. If convicted of all charges in the indictment, Berry and Dalibor Kabov each face up to 430 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
