Feds: 4 from Washington, Oregon sold bleach ingredient as cure-all
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
SPOKANE — Two people from Oregon and two from Washington have been charged with selling an ingredient for bleach online as a cure-all for arthritis, cancer and the flu.
An indictment unsealed in federal court in Spokane Tuesday charges 42-year-old Louis Daniel Smith and 38-year-old Karis Delong, both of Ashland, Ore., as well as 49-year-old Chris Olson and 50-year-old Tammy Olson, both of Nine Mile Falls.
Prosecutors say they were involved in a business called Project GreenLife, which imported sodium chlorite from Canada, and that they sold the chemical online as a "miracle mineral supplement." Buyers were instructed to mix it with orange juice or other source of citric acid before drinking it.
Mixing sodium chlorite with citric acid makes chlorine dioxide — a powerful bleach. It wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured by consuming it.
Charges include conspiracy, smuggling and interstate sales of misbranded drugs.
The Olsons were scheduled to appear in federal court Wednesday.
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