KUALA LUMPUR – Sex enhancement medication was the most confiscated item, some 22% of the total seizure, from a week-long international operation dubbed Pangea XVI, which involved 89 countries.
Other items seized during the operations from October 3 to 10 included psychotropic drugs (19%) such as antidepressants, sex hormones (12%), and gastrointestinal (12%) – all amounting to more than US$7 million (RM32.4 million) in value.
Authorities also caught 72 people, opened 325 new investigation files and closed down more than 1,300 ad links related to pharmaceutical crime, according to senior director of pharmacy services Norhaliza A. Halim in a statement today.
A total of 1,675 website links, including social media and e-commerce accounts were detected selling illegal pharmaceutical products, of which 76% of these links are on e-commerce platforms.
In Malaysia, the operation involved the Health Ministry’s Pharmacy Enforcement Division, National Central Bureau (NCB)/Interpol Malaysia, Customs Department, and Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission.
Locally, 58 of the 330 postal parcels inspected contained unregistered pharmaceutical products while 13,552 units valued at RM132,498 were seized during checks at entry points into Malaysia.
Among the units seized were cosmetics (2,359 units), gastritis medication (2,243 units) and steroids (1,673 units).
This year also saw a total of 1,465 units of painkillers and 1,343 units of health supplements confiscated at the main entry points and mail distribution centres throughout Malaysia. Most of the seized pharmaceutical and cosmetic products are from Australia, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Japan and India.
The Health Ministry’s raids found 45 unregistered premises selling unregistered pharmaceutical products, seized 96,691 units valued at RM 417,291 as well as confiscated traditional products that are mixed with unregistered steroids, painkillers and cough medication.
So far, 12 investigation papers have been opened.
This operation is also supported by Europol, the World Customs Organisation, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB), health enforcement agencies and the Pharmaceutical Security Institute. – December 27, 2023