Woman Arrested In San Rafael For Selling Antibiotics On Side Of Road
SAN RAFAEL (CBS SF) -- A woman was arrested Friday afternoon after she was found selling antibiotics out of her minivan trunk on a San Rafael street, police said.
Around 12:30 p.m. police received a complaint about a woman selling items from the back of her car in the 300 block of Canal Street. When police arrived at the location they found a woman with several controlled prescription medicines and syringes in her 2003 Honda Odyssey minivan.
Police said some of the medicines were expired. On other bottles some of the expiration dates were tampered or obliterated. It appears all the medicines were purchased legally in Guatemala and other Central American countries.
Rosa Yaneth Aguilar Tzampop, 25, of Oakland, was arrested on suspicion of dispensing or furnishing medicine without a license and possessing hypodermic syringes. Both are misdemeanor charges, police said.
Police contacted Marin County Public Health Officer Jason Eberhart-Phillips, who advised, "Antibiotics purchased on the street are potentially very dangerous and should be never used...Using these medicines puts you at risk of serious illness, even death, because no one can vouch for their safety."
The San Rafael Fire Department will accept any medicines sold on the street at any of their city firehouses and will dispose of them properly. Consumers are asked not to throw away medicines in the garbage or down toilets and drains, police said.
The California Poison Control System told police the antibiotics seized by police could be toxic to the kidneys if taken.
(Copyright 2011 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
