Police warn of counterfeit drugs sold over the Internet

Canadians tempted to purchase cheap prescription medication online are being warned they may be illegally receiving counterfeit products from overseas that are manufactured by criminal organizations.

The products, which promise health benefits, are often full of chemicals that could make people sick, the RCMP and Canada Border Service Agency told a joint news conference Thursday.

RCMP Sgt. Duncan Pound said it is better for people to steer completely clear of Internet purchases of prescription drugs, even when websites claim to be Canadian. Most are really run out of Europe and bringing in medications from China.

"We'd like to cut it off at the source by educating Canadians to the risk and trying to deal with it as a community," Pound said.

Law enforcement agencies showed off bins containing thousands of illicit products intercepted at the CBSA's international mail centre in downtown Vancouver in recent months, including erectile dysfunction drugs, Tamiflu and steroids.

One box intercepted Wednesday contained 5,000 Viagra pills that are probably counterfeit.

Pound held up two seemingly identical packages of blue Viagra pills, pointing out that the fake ones could be hazardous to someone's health.

"We routinely deal with counterfeit products, large volumes of which are sold via the Internet and are advertised as the legitimate product," he said.

"With any medicine that is not purchased through a pharmacy or obtained from a medical professional in Canada, you should not risk taking it. These products may look genuine but in fact may be harmful or toxic."

Prescription drugs aren't the only problem. Other health supplements containing regulated chemicals not mentioned on the label can be harmful and are also illegal to import, CBSA Chief Heather Ardiel said.

She said that since July, the Vancouver mail centre has intercepted 15,000 packages "containing unauthorized pharmaceuticals."

CBSA officials showed reporters seven large yellow bins of a supplement called Acai Berry, featured recently on Oprah, which is being shipped from China. Samples from shipments have been tested and contained potentially hazardous ingredients, Ardiel said.

"The interception of dangerous good at our borders plays an integral part in keeping our communities safe, and our officers remain vigilant in their efforts to ensure that only legitimate goods enter Canada through the mail stream," she said.

Neither Pound nor Ardiel could cite examples of people who had become sick from taking illegally imported counterfeit medication.

Nor could Pound point to criminal charges being laid in importation cases, even though he said it is illegal for Canadians to import prescription drugs into Canada.

"If we can cut off the demand for these products, then that goes probably farther than enforcement against some of the individuals that are doing it," Pound said.

He said the RCMP is working with its international policing partners to catch the criminals responsible at the source.

"The people selling these products are often organized crime groups operating internationally," Pound said.

Thursday's news conference was part of an Interpol and World Health Organization initiative in 26 countries called Operation Pangea II to raise awareness about the growing problem of counterfeit pharmaceuticals and health products sold over the Internet.

CBSA allowed reporters to tour its facility, where parcels and envelopes on conveyor belts are screened by specialists for suspicious characteristics. Thousands are pulled out for closer examination.

CBSA officer Mark Yee X-rayed a package containing curry powder shipped from Thailand. He pointed on his screen to the vague outline of something in the bottle.

Yee removed the commercial seal and poured out the saffron powder, revealing five tiny vials hidden inside.

"It says right on the label that it is anabolic steroids," he said. "Thailand is notorious for exporting anabolic steroids."

kbolan@vancouversun.com