Nov 20, 2009
Internet sting nets drugs
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This file picture shows counterfeits of the blue impotency pill, Viagra, seized by customs officers. Illicit drugs valued at 300,000 pounds (S$693,699) were seized, according to the MHRA. -- PHOTO: ZAOBAO
INTERNATIONAL police and health officials from 24 countries, including Singapore, screened 751 websites in a week-long sting operation to crack down on the sale of unapproved and mislabeled medicines, Bloomberg news reported. Regulators seized almost 167,000 illicit and counterfeit pills as part of the International Internet Week of Action coordinated by the World Health Organisation and Interpol, said the UK's Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. The goals of the effort, dubbed Pangea II, were to uncover makers and distributors of illicit drugs and increase public awareness about the danger of buying medical products over the Internet. Investigators focused on Internet service providers, payment systems and delivery services to identify more than 16,000 suspicious packages worldwide. 'The dangers of purchasing medicines from unregulated websites are that you just don't know what you are taking,' said Mr Mick Deats, head of enforcement at the UK's medical regulatory agency, in a statement. 'The dosages could be either too high or too low, contain no pharmaceutical ingredient or a totally different ingredient to than stated.' The US Food and Drug Administration sent 22 warning letters to the operators of 136 websites saying they may face injunctions or the seizure of products if they don't stop their illegal marketing, according to notices posted on Friday on the agency's website. The FDA also alerted Internet service providers and domain name registrars about the violators, none of which were pharmacies in the US or Canada. Fake or unapproved treatments for erectile dysfunction, hair loss, contraception, weight loss, pain relief, asthma, local anesthesia and steroids were found in the UK, where officials made three arrests and shut down six websites. Illicit drugs valued at 300,000 pounds (S$694,000) were seized, according to the MHRA.
Internet sting nets drugs
<!-- end left side bar -->
This file picture shows counterfeits of the blue impotency pill, Viagra, seized by customs officers. Illicit drugs valued at 300,000 pounds (S$693,699) were seized, according to the MHRA. -- PHOTO: ZAOBAO
INTERNATIONAL police and health officials from 24 countries, including Singapore, screened 751 websites in a week-long sting operation to crack down on the sale of unapproved and mislabeled medicines, Bloomberg news reported. Regulators seized almost 167,000 illicit and counterfeit pills as part of the International Internet Week of Action coordinated by the World Health Organisation and Interpol, said the UK's Medicine and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. The goals of the effort, dubbed Pangea II, were to uncover makers and distributors of illicit drugs and increase public awareness about the danger of buying medical products over the Internet. Investigators focused on Internet service providers, payment systems and delivery services to identify more than 16,000 suspicious packages worldwide. 'The dangers of purchasing medicines from unregulated websites are that you just don't know what you are taking,' said Mr Mick Deats, head of enforcement at the UK's medical regulatory agency, in a statement. 'The dosages could be either too high or too low, contain no pharmaceutical ingredient or a totally different ingredient to than stated.' The US Food and Drug Administration sent 22 warning letters to the operators of 136 websites saying they may face injunctions or the seizure of products if they don't stop their illegal marketing, according to notices posted on Friday on the agency's website. The FDA also alerted Internet service providers and domain name registrars about the violators, none of which were pharmacies in the US or Canada. Fake or unapproved treatments for erectile dysfunction, hair loss, contraception, weight loss, pain relief, asthma, local anesthesia and steroids were found in the UK, where officials made three arrests and shut down six websites. Illicit drugs valued at 300,000 pounds (S$694,000) were seized, according to the MHRA.
