True Left

Aaron Shamo was once the clean-cut kid next door.

The Salt Lake City millennial hailed from a good family, had been an Eagle Scout and had charm and good looks.

But investigators say beneath his All-American persona, Shamo was also the kingpin of a massive criminal syndicate, recruiting others to help him manufacture deadly counterfeit opioids in the basement of his Cottonwood Heights, Utah home, according to “American Greed,” airing Wednesdays on CNBC.
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A few months into the operation, Shamo received a tip from a local drug dealer that the real money was in selling counterfeit OxyContin. He set out to learn how to manufacture the pills, watching YouTube videos and purchasing a pill press to set up in his basement.

Shamo also purchased a large quantity of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid up to 100 times stronger than morphine — to make the counterfeit pills.

After receiving the shipment of fentanyl, Shamo created the fake OxyContin pills by hand by using powder binders and fillers mixed with fentanyl, adding dyes, pressing the pills in the pill press and then using illegal counterfeit stamps purchased on the dark web to make the pills appear legitimate.