Elmaleh, Richer Facing Smuggling Charges in Canada

MONTREAL, Quebec—Alain Elmaleh and Alain Richer are facing charges of smuggling erectile dysfunction drugs into Canada for intended distribution to Montreal-area sex stores and online, the Canada Border Services Agency said. Authorities say the men were importing the drugs—tadalafil pills, which are sold under the brand name of Cialis—from China to a Montreal business. The pair, as well as 12 businesses Elmaleh owns in five Canadian provinces, face 37 charges under the Criminal Code, the Customs Act and the Food and Drug Act, authorities said. Elmaleh operates the X-Citement Video retail chain in Canada, as well as other businesses. The most serious of the charges—selling contraband—carries a maximum penalty of $500,000 and up to five years in prison. In a statement, Elmaleh said he “wishes to stress that he has always cooperated with Canada Border Services Agency during the investigation and that, by contrast to what was reported in some media, neither him nor Mr. Alain Richer have been arrested or been the object of any arrest warrant. In fact, they have learned of the existence of these charges via the media and are still waiting for the summons related to this matter.” A report in the Montreal Gazette said the CBSA said it began its investigation in July 2011 when border guards at Montreal-Trudeau seized more than 130,000 tadalafil pills in a commercial shipment from China to Montreal and another 120,000 tablets, capsules and packaging materials were seized in June 2012 at Elmaleh’s business offices. “Mr. Elmaleh and the companies involved benefit from the presumption of innocence and intend to demonstrate that they have always acted with utmost good faith and that they are in no way guilty of the acts that are reproached to them,” Elmaleh said in his statement. “Indeed, Mr. Elmaleh has been in the distribution business of diverse products, among others wellness products, men supplements, personal massage devices and other adult related products for many decades and nothing in the information provided to him by his natural supplements suppliers or in the information contained on the packaging of these products could have allowed him to know that they contained the regulated substances mentioned by the Canada Border Services Agency.”