A Claremont woman who bought three pharmacies in Southern California so she could allegedly obtain more than 97,000 pints of a potent cough syrup and sell it as a street drug in Texas has been indicted on federal money-laundering charges

Promethazine, a central nervous system depressant, is known as "sizzurp," "purple drank" or "Lean" -- because abusers often can't stand up straight. It can be fatal when combined with alcohol.

A one-pint bottle of promethazine costs $9 wholesale, but it can bring as much as $600 in Houston, authorities said. 

Between 2004 and 2006, Uy bought Plaza Pharmacy, renamed Save Rite, in Santa Ana; Value Plus Pharmacy in Long Beach; and Blue Rose Pharmacy in Long Beach so she could purchase $1.1 million of the syrup from drug wholesalers to sell to abusers, according to a federal indictment.

The drugs were driven to Texas or delivered by parcel post. Uy and her crew deposited $6.9 million in cash and $2.7 million in money orders in various bank accounts