Europol notes ‘worrying trend’ in fake medicines
EU authorities seized €7.9 million ($8.9 million) worth of counterfeit medicines—including fake cancer drugs, antivirals, and erectile dysfunction medicines—as part of an operation carried out last year.
According to Europol, which made the announcement on Friday, March 6, nearly 36 million units of counterfeit medicines were seized, accompanying 165 arrests in 12 European countries.
The operation was led principally by the French National Gendarmerie and Finnish customs, and run in conjunction with Europol (or the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation), the European Union Intellectual Property Office and other national law enforcement agencies.
Europol said the operation resulted in the interception of 12 criminal groups, and the recovery of €1.5 million worth of assets.
Also among the counterfeit drugs were pseudoephedrine, antihistamines, anxiolytics, hormone and metabolic regulators, narcotics, painkillers, antiestrogens, hypnotics, and doping substances.
The drugs were trafficked through both online and offline channels.
The seizures indicate a “worrying trend” of trafficked counterfeit medicines entering the EU market, the Europol statement said. Such goods are made and packaged in underground labs, often in the EU, the agency added.
The 165 arrests were made in Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, and the UK.
Pfizer UK ran a social media campaign last year urging people not to be “ catfished” by counterfeit drugs.
Neville Broad, manager of the counterfeit lab at Pfizer’s facility in Sandwich, Kent, said his team has found dangerous chemicals such as lead paint, brick dust, floor polish, and boric acid in counterfeit drugs.
“In the worst case they can kill you, in the best case they just won’t work,” Broad said.
The Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines said last year that fake medicines account for a quarter of all counterfeits seized by the country’s officials.
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