In the largest operation of its kind, 81 countries have taken part in an international week of action targeting the sale on the Internet of counterfeit and illegal medicines, resulting in dozens of arrests and the seizure of 2.4 million potentially harmful medicines worldwide worth USD 6.3 million.
Operation Pangea IV (20-27 September) was undertaken in support of the International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) and involved police, customs and national regulatory agencies with support from Internet Service Providers (ISPs), payment systems providers and delivery services. Its aim was to disrupt the online criminal networks and activities connected with the selling of fake medicines online, such as credit card fraud, and to raise public awareness of the health risks linked to purchasing medicines online.
The global operation targeted the three main components misused in the illegal website trade: the Internet Service Provider (ISP), the electronic payment system and the delivery service. It was coordinated by INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization (WCO), the Permanent Forum of International Pharmaceutical crime (PFIPC), the Heads of Medicines Agencies Working Group of Enforcement Officers (HMA WGEO), the Pharmaceutical Security Industry (PSI) and the electronic payments industry.
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