An international week of action targeting the online sale of counterfeit and illicit medicines has resulted in a series of arrests and the seizure of thousands of potentially harmful medical products.

In response to an ever-increasing number of websites supplying dangerous and illegal medicines, Operation Pangea II involving 24 countries was co-ordinated by INTERPOL and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT) to highlight the dangers of buying medicines online.

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VIENNA, Austria - Representatives from the secretariats of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), INTERPOL, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) are holding their first-ever joint meeting in Vienna to design strategies intended to prevent and combat the illegal trade in wild animals and plants.

Officials from the World Bank are also taking part in the meeting (17-18 November), reflecting the growing appreciation of the substantial criminal financial gains associated with illegal trade and the involvement of money-laundering.

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NEWARK, New Jersey - A U.S. citizen arrested following a global public appeal by INTERPOL to identify a suspected paedophile featured in a series of abusive images involving young boys has been jailed for nearly 20 years.

Wayne Nelson Corliss, aged 60, was also sentenced to a lifetime supervised release following his prison term, in addition to being required to register as a sex offender after pleading guilty to five charges including the production and possession of images depicting child sexual abuse and travelling to foreign countries to engage in illegal sexual activities.

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