The Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (the MHRA) have busted a criminal ring selling illegal Viagra and erectile dysfunction products.
The MHRA said that in a house in an expensive part of Bristol, they discovered large quantities of the banned Viagra substitute Kamagra, as well as other fake drugs with name like Erectalis, Silagra, Eriacta and counterfeit versions of the hairloss medication Propecia, rebranded as ‘Finpecia’.
Whereas most raids on illegal companies happen in squalid warehouses in less affluent areas, the enforcement officials were surprised to discover that the suburban bungalow contained such a big haul of medication. 14 items of evidence were seized, including computer hard drives and pills worth thousands of pounds.
The MHRA were first alerted to the activities of the group two months ago, leading to the launch of an investigation. The group were selling the counterfeit drugs on a website which promised customers genuine Viagra.
Each year, the MHRA believe that illegal sales of counterfeit medications net criminal gangs around £45 million each year. Some experts have even estimated that a kilo of counterfeit Viagra is more valuable than the same weight of heroin.
Danny Lee Frost, head of operations at the MHRA, said that the operation went ‘as good as we could have hoped for’. The seized medication has now been sent to the laboratory to be analysed and the suspect arrested during the raid has been charged and is awaiting trial.