POLICE seized over 7,500 pills this month during a seven-day EU-wide operation to combat trafficking in counterfeit drugs.
Medication ordered over the internet is the biggest culprit in the spread of counterfeit drugs.
“One out of two drug packages ordered over the internet is counterfeit,” said senior pharmacist at the Health Ministry’s Pharmaceutical Services, Giorgos Antoniou during a news conference yesterday.
He urged the public to avoid ordering medications over the internet as there had been cases in the UK where rat poison has been found as an ingredient.
Antoniou clarified that the majority of the medications seized in Cyprus came from countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh. The pills appeared to contain active pharmaceutical ingredients. Many were presented as natural food supplements. However Cypriot authorities can only make the country of origin aware of the problem.
From 2006 to 2007, according to Antoniou, four times the amount of counterfeit drugs was seized, which mainly involved dietary and food supplements as well as drugs for more serious illnesses such as cancer.
The aim of the campaign, said police chief Michalis Papageorgiou, was to locate and close illegal websites that advertise or sell counterfeit drugs, locate and confiscate loads carrying these drugs and making the public aware of the dangers surrounding the consumption of such drugs.
Regarding internet sites selling counterfeit drugs Antoniou said that they had located one website based in Cyprus which will be investigated.
During the campaign checks were also carried out by the Postal Services with 34 small parcels found containing slimming pills and natural supplements.
“These checks are always carried out together with the police and customs,” said Andreas Grigoriou, Cyprus postal service director.
According to Antoniou the packaging often contains misleading facts about origin, quality and distribution. He said apart from potentially harmful substances the drugs are often just harmless fakes.
An outstanding issue concerns a lack of tough penalties. Those involved are also harder to find. Customs official, Demetrios Hadjicostis said that those caught moving imitation products can be subject to a fine of €1,700, however this is not specific to counterfeit drugs. It also includes any imitation product.
Counterfeit diabetic drugs were recently sent to Israel from the US through Cyprus, which but they turned out to cause hypoglycaemia – lower than normal blood glucose levels.
Only ten months ago Cyprus was implicated in a case of counterfeit cancer treatment drugs, which were being illegally smuggled into the EU. At the time, police spokesman Michalis Katsounotos confirmed that no crime had been committed on Cypriot soil after two pharmaceutical companies’ premises were searched. Simultaneous searches were carried out in Germany, Norway and Switzerland.
