Federal authorities made the first arrest in the case of the New England Compounding Center, a Massachusetts-based drug maker whose tainted steroid pain medication killed dozens of people across the country in 2012.

The authorities said they arrested Glenn Adam Chin, 46, the head pharmacist at the company, at Logan International Airport in Boston as he was about to board a flight to Hong Kong, according to Carmen M. Ortiz, a United States attorney.

Investigators said they moved quickly after they learned that Mr. Chin was planning to leave the country on Thursday morning.

A spokeswoman said she did not know whether Mr. Chin was leaving because of potential criminal charges. He was charged with one count of mail fraud, according to the United States attorney’s office.