The National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center announced their participation in Operation Pangea XV June 23-30 to seize illicit medicines.
According to a July 22 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement news release, this was a coordinated effort to combat illegal internet pharmacies with 94 other Interpol members. This was the 14th year this type of effort was conducted, and there were more than 7,800 seizures of illegal and fabricated medications, totaling more than three million individual units valued at $11 million, as a direct result of the operation.
"Two decades worth of experience has shown criminals will stop at nothing to make a profit, including selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals and medical devices despite dangers they cause," IPR Center Director Jim Mancuso said in the news release. "The United States is committed to working closely with our international law enforcement partners and the private sector to keep counterfeit pharmaceuticals and medical devices out of the global supply chain, as well as taking down transnational criminal organizations who profit from these scams. The results of Operation Pangea XV are a warning to transnational criminal organizations that law enforcement agencies around the world will do whatever it takes to protect public health and safety.”
According to the release, medicine advertisements swarm the web and social media on a daily basis. Often, this marketing is laced in deceptive and fraudulent products that may actually damage consumer health. During the week of the operation, law enforcement investigated and removed more than 4,000 web links that included "adverts for illicit products"; analyzed approximately 3,000 packages and 280 postal hot spots at airports, borders and mail distribution or cargo mail centers; and opened more than 600 new investigations while issuing more than 200 search warrants.
“The illicit supply chains and business models behind the trade in counterfeit medicines are inherently international, meaning that law enforcement has to work together across borders in order to effectively protect consumers," Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock said, according to the release.
