2 mln counterfeit drugs seized in 2012

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

Some 1,576,101 of the 1,873,592 counterfeit drugs captured in 2012, which are worth 5.6 million Turkish Liras in total, are aphrodisiacs. AA photo

Two million counterfeit drugs were seized in 300 counterfeit drug operations in Turkey this year, according to data announced yesterday by Turkey’s Police Department.

Legal proceedings were initiated against a total of 534 people in 295 incidents related to drug trafficking in Turkey this year, the department said in a letter recently sent to the Health Ministry’s Drug and Medical Device Institution on the “Pangea V Operation,” an operation conducted against counterfeit drugs sold online.

Some 1,576,101 of these 1,873,592 counterfeit drugs, which cost 5.6 million Turkish Liras in total, are aphrodisiacs, while the number of weight-loss medications seized was 200,903, the police said.

The letter also said work to form an information repository on the drugs was ongoing and that they might seek technical assistance in tracking operations with regards to the research and examination of websites and payment details.

The Pangea V Operation, which was organized by 100 countries and led by Interpol, resulted in the blocking of 275 websites selling counterfeit and illegal drugs – 247 of which were determined to be selling illegal aphrodisiacs, according to the Drug and Medical Device Institution. The institution’s chairman, Saim Kerman, said people should not buy aphrodisiacs or weight-loss drugs over the Internet, adding that such drugs could even bring deadly results.

“In our country, drugs are sold only in pharmacies. Selling drugs on the Internet is forbidden. As the ministry, we are fighting against the websites involved in the illegal drugs trade. The public should also show awareness on the subject and not buy drugs on the Internet,” Kerman said.