Elk Grove business owner charged with possessing phony Valium

A Naperville man has been charged with unlawful possession of a controlled substance for dealing in counterfeit Valium pills, authorities said.

Bond was set at $30,000 for Amin Rupani, 40, of the 2600 block of Salix Circle, after he was arrested at his computer business, Precision Technologies, in Elk Grove Village.

According to the Cook County sheriff's office, it opened an investigation after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol intercepted a package containing 20,000 counterfeit Valium pills mailed to Rupani's business address under a fake name.

Sheriff's investigators, working with the FDA and the U.S. Postal Service, forwarded the package with a tracking device to the address. When it was opened, they entered the business and arrested Rupani.

A forensic test determined the pills contained the active ingredient in Valium and were most likely manufactured by a criminal enterprise in China. They had an estimated street value of $200,000.

According to the sheriff's police, Rupani said he received such packages from a friend in Karachi, Pakistan, and he believed the contents to be vitamins and weight-loss drugs. He said he typically forwarded them to addresses in California and Texas.

A search of the business turned up an additional 20,000 pills believed to be counterfeit Xanax.

Rupani was released after posting bail; his next court date is Feb. 3 in Rolling Meadows. He did not return a call for comment.