China, US police crack counterfeit drug case

Chinese and US police have jointly uncovered a major counterfeitmedicine scheme, a Chinese official said yesterday at a newsbriefing. The scheme spanned 11 countries and involved millions ofdollars worth of bogus drugs. 11 Chinese were arrested, along withone American.

Altogether 440,000 counterfeit pills, valued at more than 40million yuan (US$4.3 million), were seized in the co-operation effortbetween August 28 and September 2, said Gao Feng, a spokesperson forthe Public Security Ministry.

The fake drugs included the male sexual dysfunction drugs Viagra,Cialis and Levitra, as well as the cholesterol drug Lipitor,according to Xinhua News Agency.

Li Wenhui and American Richard Cowley, the primary suspects, havebeen arrested in Tianjin, North China, and the US state of Washingtonrespectively.

Li began selling bogus drugs online in March last year under thefalse names of Wang Daijun and David Wang. Quickly he came intocontact with Cowley through the Internet, and became the American'smain supplier, mailing him the drugs and helping him with onlinesales to buyers in countries such as the US, Britain and Switzerland.

Chinese police said the investigation began in September 2004 whenPfizer, a leading US-based pharmaceutical company, tipped them offthat Li was trading fake Viagra to the US and the UK via mail.

No information was provided about how Pfizer discovered thecounterfeit drugs.

"In terms of the amount of arrests and seizures, I believe this isprobably one of our most significant investigations involvingcounterfeit pharmaceuticals," Andy Yu, a Beijing-based customsattache with the US Department of Homeland Security, was quoted by APas saying.

The two police forces also discovered 14 drug manufacturingmachines and 260 kilograms of semi-finished fakes and raw materials,which would have produced another 4 million bogus pills.

It is the second successful joint investigation by China and theUnited States in combating intellectual property rights violations.

The first collaboration was in July last year, when they jointlycracked a counterfeit DVD scheme, which involved 210,000 pirateddiscs, worth about US$31,000. Six people were arrested, including twoAmericans.

China, US police crack counterfeit drug case

Chinese and US police have jointly uncovered a major counterfeitmedicine scheme, a Chinese official said yesterday at a newsbriefing. The scheme spanned 11 countries and involved millions ofdollars worth of bogus drugs. 11 Chinese were arrested, along withone American.

Altogether 440,000 counterfeit pills, valued at more than 40million yuan (US$4.3 million), were seized in the co-operation effortbetween August 28 and September 2, said Gao Feng, a spokesperson forthe Public Security Ministry.

The fake drugs included the male sexual dysfunction drugs Viagra,Cialis and Levitra, as well as the cholesterol drug Lipitor,according to Xinhua News Agency.

Li Wenhui and American Richard Cowley, the primary suspects, havebeen arrested in Tianjin, North China, and the US state of Washingtonrespectively.

Li began selling bogus drugs online in March last year under thefalse names of Wang Daijun and David Wang. Quickly he came intocontact with Cowley through the Internet, and became the American'smain supplier, mailing him the drugs and helping him with onlinesales to buyers in countries such as the US, Britain and Switzerland.

Chinese police said the investigation began in September 2004 whenPfizer, a leading US-based pharmaceutical company, tipped them offthat Li was trading fake Viagra to the US and the UK via mail.

No information was provided about how Pfizer discovered thecounterfeit drugs.

"In terms of the amount of arrests and seizures, I believe this isprobably one of our most significant investigations involvingcounterfeit pharmaceuticals," Andy Yu, a Beijing-based customsattache with the US Department of Homeland Security, was quoted by APas saying.

The two police forces also discovered 14 drug manufacturingmachines and 260 kilograms of semi-finished fakes and raw materials,which would have produced another 4 million bogus pills.

It is the second successful joint investigation by China and theUnited States in combating intellectual property rights violations.

The first collaboration was in July last year, when they jointlycracked a counterfeit DVD scheme, which involved 210,000 pirateddiscs, worth about US$31,000. Six people were arrested, including twoAmericans.