Jury Convicts Nigerian-American Pharmacist Over 300,000-Pills Oxycodone Ring

​A federal jury in the Southern District of Florida has found 60-year-old licensed pharmacist Olushola Yusuf guilty of orchestrating a massive illegal drug distribution scheme, flooding South Florida communities with hundreds of thousands of high-potency oxycodone pills.

​The verdict, announced by the United States Department of Justice, closes a major chapter in a joint federal investigation involving the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

​Profit Over Patients

​According to court documents and evidence presented during the trial, Yusuf—a Tampa resident who owned and operated two regional pharmacies, Boots LLC (d/b/a Striderite) in Margate and Chans Pharmacy Plus, Inc. in Pembroke Pines—turned her businesses into hubs for unlawful opioid trafficking.

​Prosecutors demonstrated that Yusuf dispensed at least 326,079 high-strength oxycodone 30mg pills—the maximum strength available and a primary driver of the nation’s opioid crisis—to customers who had no legitimate medical need for the medication.

​Rather than serving as a healthcare safeguard, Yusuf built an enterprise optimized for illicit profit. She routinely required customers to pay entirely in cash—charging roughly 10 times the standard market value of the drug—with some individuals shelling out up to $1,300 monthly. Testimony revealed that the operation catered to individuals traveling long distances across the state, including drug dealers who picked up prescriptions on behalf of dozens of absent individuals.

​Ignoring Red Flags and Warnings

​To maintain the illicit operation, Yusuf implemented strict operational secrecy. Witnesses testified that she kept her pharmacy doors locked during normal business hours, admitting only pre-identified customers.

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​This underground model persisted despite explicit warnings. Both her own employees and officials from the DEA repeatedly alerted Yusuf to the glaring red flags of addiction and drug diversion tied to her storefronts. She chose to ignore these warnings, cementing a business framework built around exploitation.

​”Olushola Yusuf did not simply ignore red flags. She built her business around them,” stated U.S. Attorney Jason A. Reding Quiñones for the Southern District of Florida. “She knowingly flooded South Florida communities with more than 335,000 high-dose oxycodone pills, even after her employees and the DEA warned her about the dangers of her conduct.”

​Legal Fallout and Next Steps

​Following the trial, a federal jury convicted Yusuf on one count of conspiracy to illegally distribute controlled substances and five substantive counts of illegal drug distribution.

​Her co-defendant, Saman Gimenez, previously pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge. Yusuf faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in federal prison for each count.

​A federal district court judge is scheduled to hand down sentencing on October 14, 2026, following evaluations of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutory parameters.