9.4 million illicit and counterfeit drugs were seized in 111 countries.
A new major international offensive was organized by Interpol between 13 and 20 May 2014, simultaneously in 111 countries.
Operation Pangea VIIis part of worldwide operations led each year.
It targets illicit drugs selling on the Internet.
The operation resulted in 239 arrests and the seizure of $36 million of potentially dangerous drugs. 543,000 packages were inspected by Customs and regulatory authorities, in which 20,000 were seized.
Among the seized products slimming pills, cancer medication, erectile dysfunction pills, cough and cold medication, anti-malarial, cholesterol medication and nutritional products were found.
During this operation, 10,600 illegal medicines e-commerce were shut down and 19,000 adverts for illicit pharmaceuticals via social media platforms have been removed.
In a report published by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) in April 2014, of total 10,758 online pharmacies reviewed, only 2.38% appear to be potentially legitimate. As for the World Health Organization, 50% of drugs offered for sale on the internet are counterfeit.
After the operation Pangea VII, the Interpol Secretary General, Ronald K. Noble, said “the sole focus of the organized crime networks behind the sale of these fake and illicit medicines is to make money, and they do not care about the potentially life-threatening consequences of their actions.”
In France, health and judicial authorities had more specifically monitored the Internet network for 2 months before the final operation. This year, Cyberdouane, a unit specialized in the fight against illicit trafficking on the Internet, has focused its research on the “cybersquatting”[1]. During the operation, this unit has identified 89 illegal websites selling fake drugs.
Results of the operation:
• The French Customs seized 593,900 falsified, smuggled and counterfeit pharmaceuticals, including more than 486,000 in Roissy.
• More than 454,200 medicines without marketing approval were intercepted,
• and 93,000 and 46,700 counterfeit tablets of the doping products family.
• Nearly 75% of the seized goods originated in India.
This is an example of the fight against counterfeit drugs that can seriously endanger public health.
IRACM thanks and congratulates all the national and international actors involved in this operation, which is a great achievement.
Read Interpol press releaseRead OCLAESP, ANSM and French Customs press release (in French)Read the press release of the FDA in English and in Spanish
The operations Pangea, from 2009 to 2014.
[1] Cybersquatting is a practice of referring legal sites to illicit pharmacies, thereby abusing the consumer-patient about the origin of medicine and using its reputation.