Counterfeit Viagra, other fake drugs seized

Police seized more than 88,000 counterfeit Viagra pills and 95,000 other doses of fake aphrodisiacs after cracking a major counterfeit medicine ring last year in Dongguan, a Pearl River delta city of Guangdong province.

Another 1.42 million unfinished doses of the fake drugs were seized in the case that involved 230 different kinds of imitation medicines with a retail value of more than 37 million yuan ($5.65 million), Huang Shouying, director of the economic crime investigation bureau with the Guangdong provincial department of public security, said on Tuesday.

In addition, a major criminal gang that produced and sold fake medicines and a secret trafficking network were busted during raids in the previous year, Huang said.

"A total of 23 suspects were detained during a special campaign launched late last year," Huang said.

Local police established a special task force to investigate the fake drug case after seizing 509 fake Viagra pills at a drugstore in Dongguan's Tangxia township last August. Special operations were launched with the cooperation with police in Guangdong’s Guangzhou and Qingyuan cities and Hunan and Henan provinces.

The raids have dealt a heavy blow to local drug counterfeiting, Huang said.