Interpol announced a seizure of 25 million drugs for an amount of 51 million dollars.
The counterfeit drug market is doing well. The monumental seizures by the authorities bear witness to this. The latest: that of Interpol, which struck a big blow. The international organization announced on Monday a record seizure of 25 million counterfeit drugs.
These prohibited counterfeits are distributed on the Internet in all countries of the world. The amount of the seizure is $ 51 million. Among the drugs seized include dietary supplements, pain pills, treatments against epilepsy and erectile dysfunction, as well as nutritional products, said in a statement the international police cooperation agency, whose head office is in Lyon.
123 participating countries
Operation Pangea X, launched in 2008, was carried out in 123 countries – a record number – between September 12 and 19. Interpol cites in its press release the participation for the first time of many African countries.
The last intervention gave rise to four hundred arrests. In addition, 3,584 websites have been closed and more than 3,000 internet advertisements promoting pharmaceutical products have been suspended.
“Lives in danger”
According to Interpol, Pangea X also investigated the illegal sale of medical equipment, such as dental implants, condoms, syringes and surgical equipment, leading to seizures in the amount of $ 500,000.
Interpol is concerned about the increasing flow over the past decade of unauthorized or uncontrolled pharmaceutical products on the internet. This trend “puts lives in danger”, we can read. “The fact that we are seeing such tremendous results after ten years of Pangea operations shows that selling banned drugs online is a persistent and growing challenge.”
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