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).

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