Switzerland against illegally imported and falsified drugs
The federal government took part in Operation Pangea XIV led by Interpol, hitting the sale of erection stimulants in 90 percent of cases
Authorities around the world have coordinated their efforts to monitor online offers of medicines by criminals. A globally coordinated campaign against the illegal trade in medicines on the Internet took place from 18 to 25 May, in which the Swiss Confederation also participated.
Erectile stimulants have dominated this market for years: about 90% of the shipments seized by the Federal Customs Administration (FCA) and Swissmedic contained such stimulants.
Other illegally imported prescription drugs were also confiscated which pose a great risk to health if taken independently.
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As many as 55 national police forces coordinated by the Lyon office are involved
Switzerland has been participating for years in the international campaign week PANGEA coordinated from Lyon by Interpol. This year, 55 countries were actively involved.
The objective of its fourteenth edition was again the fight against illegal trade in therapeutic products on the Internet. In total, almost 120,000 websites were evaluated by international authorities and 113,000 of these sites were closed down.
A total of 9 million units of illegal and falsified medicines were seized worldwide.
Three hundred million francs for global health
Inspected 695 shipments at the Zurich-Mülligen postal center
In Switzerland, Swissmedic, the FCA, and Antidoping Switzerland inspected 695 shipments at the Zurich-Mülligen postal center.
Half of these (346) were seized because they were illegal imports of medicines or doping substances. In particular, consignments from the Ukraine were discovered which often contained falsifications of the erection stimulants Viagra and Cialis.
The seized narcotics were reported to the cantons who will initiate appropriate criminal proceedings.
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120 illegal websites detected by Swissmedic and Antidoping Switzerland
In the PANGEA XI campaign, Swissmedic and Antidoping Switzerland have identified 120 illegal foreign websites posing as Swiss online pharmacies.
Seventy-five hacked websites were discovered on which falsified prescription medicines were distributed without the knowledge of the operators.
Steps were taken to have the websites deleted or corrected.
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Evolving criminal networks, primarily in Asia and India
Behind the illegal supply of medicines are professional criminals who are linked in an international network. Fake medicines are mainly produced in Asian countries and counterfeit stimulants in India.
These products reach Swiss patients through illegal and tortuous distribution channels. Last year, most of the seized shipments had been sent from Singapore.
Thanks to good cooperation with the local Health Sciences Authority (HSA), companies from this transit country are currently no longer active.
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Poland and Germany as new transit countries for medicines
Most of the shipments confiscated during the PANGEA XIV campaign came from Poland and Germany, which served as new transit countries for Indian medicines.
Evidently the criminal networks have modified their distribution channels in vain to reduce the risk of seizure by the authorities.
Illegally marketed products intentionally endanger the health of patients. They contain no active ingredients or contain less than the stated amount of active ingredients.
To prevent products from attracting attention during simple tests, some active ingredients are present, but rarely in the required amount.
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