113,000 fake online pharmacies shut in global sting

Authorities in 92 countries shut down 113,000 websites and online marketplaces selling counterfeit, illicit medicines and medical products last month, including vast quantities of fake COVID19 tests and face masks, INTERPOL said.

The secretary-general of the international police agency, Jurgen Stock said in a statement on Tuesday, “As the pandemic forced more people to move their lives online, criminals were quick to target these new customers.

“Unauthorised COVID-19 testing kits accounted for over half of all the medical devices seized from May 18 to 25.

“Whilst some individuals were knowingly buying illicit medicines, many thousands of victims were unwittingly putting their health and potentially their lives at risk.

“Fake and illicit drugs were also found concealed in shipments of clothes, jewellery, toys and food,” Stock said.

Police arrested 227 people worldwide and recovered pharmaceutical products worth $23 million.

Italian authorities found more than 500,000 fake surgical masks and 35 machines for their production and packaging.

The roughly nine million devices and drugs seized was the highest number since INTERPOL began coordinating the fake medicine campaigns, known as Pangea operations, in 2008.

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Kamila/AFP