Exclusive | Illegal drug peddlers turn NYC neighborhood into open-air prescription pill market
A half-mile section of Washington Heights has been transformed into an open-air prescription drug bazaar, with brazen vendors illegally peddling painkillers, erectile dysfunction pills, and an array of other meds, The Post has learned.The sprawling street pharmacy stretches across 10 square blocks, in and around West 179th to West 183rd streets and St.Nicholas Avenue with at least 20 vendors showcasing their wares in loose blister packs, boxes, and bottles strewn across dingy folding tables.“Is it for an adult? You can take up to three a day until they’re all gone,” barked a vendor selling blister packs of the antibiotic amoxicillin for $5 a sheet.“It’s for phlegm, for the throat.
Or one in the morning and one at night,” she advised, standing next to a busy bus stop on West 181st Street and St.Nicholas.A shopper who saw the pills chimed in with approval.
“Those are really good! They’re powerful stuff.When there’s an infection, it cures it.
When I give it to my grandson, I give him three a day!”Amoxicillin was among the alarming cornucopia of pills available this week, including: erectile dysfunction meds Viagra and Cialis; Cataclofen Plus, for pain and inflammation; and antibiotic Ampicillin.“Someone is going to die from this, I have no doubt,” warned Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens).“Who knows what’s actually in the things being peddled here? This is a prescription for disaster.
Where is the NYPD with this, and why is the Mamdani administration allowing this to go on?”The Spanish-speaking sellers arrive at about 9 a.m.every morning with product in wheeled carts, set up their tables and umbrellas, and sit outside until about 6 p.m.The vendors buy the drugs in the Dominican Republic, where many can be purchased over the counter, and smuggle them in to Gotham to sell for profit.Occasionally there are hiccups.
“I once brought two boxes of Ampicillin, but they seized and confiscated them at the airport.Some people manage to g...