A 70-year-old Southern California woman and her son are among four people indicted in a narcotics scheme that authorities say involved buying pharmacies so they could purchase and send a powerful cough syrup from California to Texas, where it was sold for the street concoction "purple drank" or "the lean."

Lucita Uy of Claremont has been indicted on allegations that she bought three pharmacies so she could purchase more than 97,000 pints of promethazine for the wholesale price of about $9, the U.S. attorney's office said in a statement.

On the streets of Houston, where the drug is especially popular, the same bottle can go for as much as $600.

Uy and her son, 42-year-old Lemuel Libano, have pleaded not guilty to two counts apiece of conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to structure cash transactions to evade federal reporting requirements. They are scheduled to go to trial Nov. 29.

A Houston man and woman have been indicted as co-conspirators and have also pleaded not guilty: Christopher Lamont Crawford, 38, and Kendra Patrice Manigault, 44.

From 2004 to 2008, the indictment says, Uy bought pharmacies in Santa Ana, Buena Park and Long Beach, and used them to buy promethazine from wholesale distributors, spending more than $1.1 million on the syrup.

The drugs were then either shipped or driven to Crawford and Manigault, who distributed them in Texas and gave the proceeds to Uy, the indictment alleges.

The four together deposited $9.6 million in cash and money orders into bank accounts during the four-year span.

If convicted on all charges in the indictment, Uy and Libano each could get up to 25 years in prison, Crawford and Manigault 20 years.

The Internal Revenue Service is also seeking forfeiture of real estate, cash, cars and luxury watches.

Promethazine is the key ingredient in "purple drank," a concoction that usually includes codeine, soda pop and hard candy.

Also known as "syrup," "sizzurp" or "the lean" for its tendency to keep users from standing up straight, "purple drank" has been celebrated in hip-hop songs and has led to the arrest of professional athletes.

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