In a concerted crackdown on the sale of black market medicines last week, gardaí and customs officials uncovered over 192,000 different types of fake medicines, worth over €600,000, with the help of Interpol and some 200 national drug bodies.
This was the haul for just one week.
The whole thing is evidence that this dangerous trade is growing at an alarming rate. Last year 121,000 fake medicines were seized, with an estimated value of €375,000, which means that there has been an increase of 60% in just one year. The internet has developed into a lucrative tool for unscrupulous business people.
The World Health Organisation recently estimated that the online trade of counterfeit drugs is worth as much as €70bn annually on a global basis.
Source: Irish Examiner, 29/06/2013
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