Joint Operation launched by Customs and Department of Health raided six Pharmacies in the New Territories

Date: 28/03/2009

On March 27, officers of the Customs and Department of Health launched a joint blitz operation and successfully neutralized six pharmacies selling illegal drugs located in Sheung Shui, Tai Po and Fanling, New Territories. During the operation, drugs alleged to have contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance and the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, including medicated oil, serum albumin liquid, etc., with a total value of about HK$180,000 were discovered. Six males aged between 21 and 39 were arrested. All of them were the persons-in-charge of the pharmacies and were provisionally admitted to bail pending investigation.

Based on complaints received earlier on, the Customs suspected that various kinds of drugs alleged to have contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance and the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance were being sold on the market by chain pharmacies. The Customs thus deployed 70 officers to join forces with the Department of Health and the relevant trade mark owners to carry out comprehensive inspection and check in Sheung Shui, Tai Po and Fanling. As a result, various kinds of drugs alleged to have contravened the Trade Descriptions Ordinance and the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance, including medicated oil, serum albumin liquid, etc., with a total value of about HK$180,000 were found upon search in 6 pharmacies.

The drugs involved in the case will later be delivered to the Government Laboratory for examination in order to determine whether they are harmful to health and the main ingredients contained are in compliance with the trade descriptions. Taking drugs containing no main ingredients of genuine drugs can lead to failure of disease treatment and may even affect the medical condition. Therefore, for safety reasons, C&ED and the Department of Health appealed to members of the public to purchase drugs on doctors’ prescriptions from reputable pharmacies or directly from registered pharmacists to avoid the unknowing purchase of illegal drugs.

C&ED welcomes any provision of information on counterfeit drugs, please call the Customs Information Hotline 2545 6182. In case members of the public have any enquiries about drugs, please call the Department of Health’s Hotline 2319 8467.

Any person who contravenes the Trade Descriptions Ordinance is liable to prosecution. The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$500,000 and imprisonment for five years. In addition, the maximum penalty for contravening the Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance is a fine of HK$100,000 and two years’ imprisonment.

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