Interpol and U.S. agencies take part in global crackdown on counterfeit drugs

The Medicines Health Care products Regulatory Agency coordinated seizures in the UK. Image: Interpol

Twenty-four countries took part in this week's coordinated action -- "Operation Pangea" -- to seize counterfeit drugs peddled by illegal online pharmacies. Interpol and the World Health Organization are sounding the alarm about the drugs which may be dangerous or ineffective.

The illegal trade of ineffective or dangerous copies of many commonly used drugs, including Viagra, steroids, slimming aids and antidepressants, is proliferating around the world. France, the United States and many other countries this week took part in a global effort to shut down the illegal trade in prescription drugs. 

Most of the drugs are sold via virtual Internet drugstores, where half of them are counterfeit, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) which recently called the consumption of the products "a real danger to health.”

Interpol today released the results of a major operation carried out this week in conjunction with the WHO and the authorities of 24 countries which closed down hundreds of internet sites, seized illegal or suspicious drugs at mail distribution centers and raided warehouses.

The operation found 125 sites in French, all of which were domiciled abroad using false postal addresses, says French daily Le Figaro. The Washington Post reported today that U.S. officials seized 800 suspicious drug packages in the mail center at John F. Kennedy International Airport and shut down 68 alleged "rogue" online pharmacies.

Some presumed “salesmen” representing the sites have also been arrested in France in possession of various counterfeit anxyolytics, anabolic steroids and other drugs.

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France has very strict laws concerning the distribution of medicines, and the increasing use of the Internet to sell fake drugs is alarming authorities. “The counterfeit drugs are generally made in China, India and the Middle East before being exported, mainly to African countries,” says Jerôme Fournel, general director of the French Customs Service. “Nevertheless a specific network targeting Europe has also developed over the last few years because of the Internet.”

Product types include those with no active ingredient, a dangerous mix of active ingredients and other chemicals, and real but repackaged drugs which have outlived their safe shelf life.

French authorities have also noticed an uptick in the number of hospitalizations linked to the use of illegal drugs. Symptoms include high blood pressure, tachycardia and heavy transpiration. One woman died last year after taking a slimming product that she bought in a Chinese herbal remedy shop.

Unlike the United States which allows online sales of drugs with a doctor's prescription, online sales of drugs, even authentic ones, is illegal in France and offenders risk jail sentences. The only place where drugs can be bought legally in France is in a “Pharmacie” which is a highly regulated network of distribution, and all drugs sold in pharmacies must be accompanied by 100 percent traceable documentation. The only exceptions are items like mild painkillers and various skin irritation creams.

Interpol says that final results from Operation Pangea will be released at the conclusion of ongoing investigations.