In its mission to combat the sale of illegal medicines, Operation Pangea was launched by Interpol and its partners, consisting of customers, health regulators, national police forces and the public sector from across the globe. Operation Pangea is being launched in phases and last week saw Operation Pangea, phase V take action. The week-long operation was focused on targeting the online sale of counterfeit drugs and further highlights the dangers that the Internet poses as a new market for those seeking to profit from the sale of illicit medicines. Operation Pangea V proved to be a huge success, with over three million illicit and counterfeit drugs being seized with an estimated value of over ten million dollars.
Laura Mole, a solicitor in the Pharmaceutical and Life Sciences team at Matthew Arnold & Baldwin LLP, comments, “The success of Operation Pangea V is a warning to those seeking to undermine the industry that people are not willing to stand by and see what are often vulnerable people hurt by the damaging and sometimes deadly effects of counterfeit drugs. As the availability of counterfeit drugs becomes easier through the widely accessible medium of the Internet, the need for initiatives such as Operation Pangea V becomes more important and helps protect those members of society that need protection the most and further helps keep the strong reputation and people’s reliance on the industry and its medicines safe.”