4 Brazilian illegal immigrants in Massachusetts charged with running black market pharmacy

Flint McColgan, Boston Herald on Mar 11, 2025

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BOSTON — An illegal immigrant from Brazil has been arrested along with three of his alleged drug runners — also Brazilian nationals — on federal charges that they pushed controlled substances from their home country to customers who thought they were legitimate pharmaceutical drugs.

“For years, these defendants allegedly exploited a community’s trust to peddle black-market prescription drugs under the (guise) of legitimacy,” U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Leah Foley said in the announcement of the arrests. “They entered our country illegally and put countless individuals’ health and safety in danger, all for profit.”

Federal prosecutors say that alleged ringleader Douglas Reis de Souza, 40, “held himself out to be a legitimate pharmacist to the Portuguese-speaking community in the greater Farmingham area” under the shortened form of his actual name, Douglas Reis, as well as “Droga Reis,” which is Portuguese for “Drug King.” He allegedly operated his black-market pharmacy out of an apartment in Framingham.

He would hand out business cards that said, as translated from the Portuguese, he sold “Remedies from Brazil” that included “contraceptive pills and injectables, injectable cocktail to treat muscular and orthopedic problems” and even “perforation of ear cells,” according to an affidavit supporting the charges. The card contained a QR code a prospective customer could scan to open a WhatsApp chat with him, so they could communicate through encrypted means.

Prosecutors say that de Souza would illegally import prescription drugs from Brazil and then sell them under the table to the local Brazilian population in the area. While he allegedly billed himself as a real pharmacist, his alleged practice made no further effort toward the gimmick, according to court records.

“At no time did REIS DE SOUZA inquire about (the customer)’s health, medical history, ailments, medications (the customer) is currently taking, or allergies to any medications,” the affidavit states. “Nor has REIS DE SOUZA asked (the customer) if he/she is currently taking prescriptions, a prescription history, or if (the customer) is in the care of a licensed doctor.”

Reis de Souza and three of his alleged drug trafficking organization employees, Dekny Marcos de Carvaleho Reis, 33; Dekmara de Carvalho Reis, 34; and Wandiscleia Ferreira de Souza Guimaraes, 41, all of Framingham, were arrested Monday morning and charged in federal court in Boston with conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Donald L. Cabell ordered the defendants detained ahead of a full detention hearing scheduled for Thursday. Each defendant was appointed an attorney, according to court records.

The case was built on more than 140 packages sent from Brazil to Framingham and surrounding towns seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents since Nov. 13, 2021, according to the affidavit. Investigators say that they matched the phone numbers and addresses associated with the shipments to de Souza or his alleged associates.

An example of the contents was one seized on May 11, 2023. It was labeled as containing “vitamins” but instead was a shipment of about 120 tablets of alprazolam and 360 tablets containing clonazepam. Both drugs, of the benzodiazepine class — downers — are Schedule IV controlled substances. Other drugs, and a hormone treatment, allegedly found in the shipments include phenobarbital, testosterone, lisdexamfetamine and methylphenidate, all of which are controlled substances and require a prescription.

While the feds were already on de Souza’s case, the Drug Enforcement Administration received an anonymous tip: “There is a man (called Douglas Souza Reis) from Brazil, who is selling illegal medicines without prescription to the Brazilian community inside the Green at 9 and 90 condominiums in Framingham …” The tip said he was also dealing in “Zolpidem, Ritalin, Vyvanse, Dipyrone and Ozempic.

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