Customs agents seize P25M worth of fake medicines

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) has seized P25-million worth of fake medicines intended for the local market, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said Wednesday.

Biazon presented to the media the 40-footer container van loaded with 20 pallets of fake medicines from South Korea and consigned to Mountain Glory Agri Sales Corp.

“This is a big haul for the Bureau of Customs not only in terms of otherwise foregone revenues, but more importantly, because of the countless Filipino lives that could have been saved by this seizure.” Biazon said.

The imported fake medicines included those that were branded as Simvastatin, Centrum Multivitamins, Perigo (Ibuprofen), and Amoxycillin, he added.

Biazon said agents of the BOC-Intellectual Property Rights Division (IPRD) apprehended the shipment on May 8 at the Manila International Container Port (MICP).

The IPRD operatives got suspicious after they learned that the van containing the medicines was a dry container van with no temperature control, Biazon said.

BOC officials then checked with the Foods and Drugs Administration (FDA) and discovered that Mountain Glory Agri Sales Corp. had no license to import medicines, he added.

Biazon said Mountain Glory was liable for violating the Intellectual Property Rights Law and the Food and Drugs Administration Law.

He congratulated the IPRD operatives under lawyer Zsae Carrie de Guzman for apprehending the shipment of fake drugs.

“We will aggressively pursue this smuggling attempt and find out who are those involved in this, and we shall recommend the filing of appropriate charges against them,” said BOC Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence Danilo Lim.