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Mark Grenon, the alleged leader of a fake church in Florida, arrested in Colombia for extradition to the United States.
He faces federal rates on accusations that he sold a poison bleach as a “miracle potion” intended to cure COVID-19.
In a series of tweets Tuesday night, Colombia’s attorney general announced that Santa Marta agents had arrested Grenon and his son, Joseph Timothy Graham.
The arrest followed the rates filed in the United States for “marketing in this country the so-called “miracle potion” to treat Covid-19 and diseases, as the announcement.
Business Insider has extensively reported how the substance — called Miracle Mineral Solution, or MMS — has been promoted as a cure for a range of illnesses.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, advocates have also stated that it effectively opposes COVID-19.
According to the Attorney General’s office, Mark and Joseph Grenon “served as non-secular guides to a foreign congregation to sell the “miracle solution” to their faithful.
He told prosecutors that the substance played a role in “the deaths of 7 U.S. citizens.”
The Colombian government also accused Grenon of promoting the substance and organizing shipments from the Caribbean port of Santa Marta to parts of Europe and Africa.
A food and drug service spokeswoman said the company does not comment on ongoing investigations.
Grenon, along with Joseph Grenon and two of his other children, charged through Florida prosecutors in July conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, and contempt of offenders.
U.S. prosecutors accuse them of selling and selling MMS as a miracle cure for diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, sclerosis, HIV/AIDS and COVID-19.
The substance is chlorine dioxide, a form of poisonous bleach created by mixing sodium chlorite with a common acid or drinking it pure.
The Food and Drug Administration has issued a number of warnings that oppose MMS intake, indicating that it causes severe vomiting, diarrhea and life-threatening hypotension, and can be fatal in high doses.
Grenon posed as the “archbishop” of Florida-based Genesis II Church, whose main statement that chlorine dioxide is a cure for miraculous healing powers.
According to court documents filed in Florida, Grenon admitted investigators in the United States in an interview that the church “has nothing to do with religion” and that it exists to “legalize the use of MMS” and “go to [go to] jail.”
The documents imply that, as the coronavirus began to spread earlier this year, Grenon’s revenue from the sale of MMS increased from approximately $30,000 a month to approximately $120,000 when it began to advertise it as a cure for the disease.
In recent years, MMS supporters have established a presence in Latin America.
To the horror of medical experts, the Bolivian Senate recently approved a bill legalizing MMS as a COVID-19 remedy after a disinformation crusade over its miraculous powers swept the country.
Business Insider has revealed Grenon’s MMS promotion on social media. In reaction to research, YouTube in 2019 got rid of a channel where Grenon sold MMS and updated its policies to explicitly ban its promotion.
In Uganda, other people associated with Genesis II Church were arrested last year for giving the substance to others living in remote rural communities as antimalarial treatment, adding infants and young children. The arrests are based on investigations through Business Insider and the Guardian.