The INTERPOL operation codenamed Pangea targeted internet pharmacies in ten countries that were selling counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Operation Pangea involved regulatory agencies associated with INTERPOL from the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore and Switzerland.
The internet pharmacies that were raided as result of the operation were primarily sellers of prescription drugs for conditions such as diabetes, obesity and hair loss but also involved internet pharmacies selling ancillary bodybuilding drugs (”Interpol Media Release: Illegal online medicine suppliers targeted in first international Internet day of action,” November 13).
The first international Internet day of action co-ordinated by the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime, INTERPOL and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT), targeting the illegal online sale of medicines to the public has resulted in a series of arrests and the seizure of potentially harmful medicines in operations carried out around the world.
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Codenamed Pangea, the operation focused on those individuals behind Internet sites which illegally sell and supply unlicensed or prescription-only medicines claiming to treat a range of ailments.
While steroids and steroid pharmacies were not specifically targeted, Operation Pangea has significant ramifications for international steroid distribution. The most significant consequence results from a new definition of counterfeit drugs proposed by a World Health Organization’s (WHO) funded body allegedly supported by pharmaceutical multi-national corporations (MNCs).
The proprietors of EDS-Research.com, a research chemical company, were arrested for selling research chemicals in what authorities have sensationalized as a “shocking international drug operation in a small home in the Village of Reedsville.” It has also been identified as a “prescription drug repackaging operation” that imported drugs from China with a daily revenue of $1000-2000. Manitowoc County Sheriff Rob Hermann was impressed by the research chemical operation moreso than any other drug operation that he’s seen in his career (”Police Raid Alleged Prescription Pill Lab,” October 30).
“A lot of equipment they had was large-scale manufacturing equipment, things that we would typically not see during the normal course of our business,” Detective Sergeant Pete McGinty of the Two Rivers Police Department said.
“In 25 years I’ve never seen such an operation. We’ve conducted search warrants in marijuana grow houses, crystal meth labs, meth cathedone manufacturing. I’ve never seen anything like this in 25 years,” Sheriff Hermann said.
The sheriff thought that ShonTay Dessart and his partner were selling “steroid-type” drugs from their house reflecting the widespread misconception that all ancillary drugs and performance enhancing drugs that are used by bodybuilders and athletes are anabolic steroids. Read more
