International operations
| Operation Mamba II – Eastern Africa |
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Dates: |
August 2009 |
Participating countries: |
Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda |
Results: |
- More than 270 premises raided;
- 83 police cases opened;
- Prosecution of several individuals suspected of being involved in the illicit trafficking of medical products and already 4 convictions
- Thousands of tablets seized
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Operation Mamba II brings together police, customs, drugs regulatory authorities and other stakeholders from all three countries, supported by INTERPOL and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Medical Products Anti-Counterfeiting Taskforce (IMPACT). The Operation led to the seizure of thousands of counterfeit, unregistered, banned and illegally diverted medical products which pose a potential serious risk to public health and to the identification of criminal links across the region.
A criminal analytical report will be published by November 2009.
| Operation Pangea – Internet Day of Action |
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Dates: |
12 November 2008 |
Participating countries: |
Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, Israel, New Zealand, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the USA |
Results: |
- Commercial websites taken down;
- Postal depots monitored and parcels examined; packages containing suspected counterfeit medicines intercepted;
- Thousands of suspected counterfeit erectile dysfunction drugs and other medicines seized or identified and withdrawn from circulation;
- Consumer awareness raised via global press coverage.
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Organized by the Permanent Forum on International Pharmaceutical Crime (PFIPC) and supported by INTERPOL, Operation Pangea focused on raising awareness of the dangers of buying medical products over the Internet.
| Operation Mamba – Eastern Africa |
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Dates: |
29 September – 5 October 2008 |
Participating countries: |
Tanzania and Uganda |
Results: |
- 226 pharmacies, wholesalers, hospitals and market stalls inspected;
- 82 police cases opened;
- More than 100 different products seized.
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Operation Mamba demonstrates the way in which multiple law enforcement agencies can be mobilized to achieve a common goal. Police, drugs and revenue authorities joined their respective forces in Uganda and Tanzania, with the aim of inspecting and confiscating counterfeit medicines.
| Operation Storm – South East Asia |
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Dates: |
15 April – 15 September 2008 |
Participating countries: |
Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam |
Results: |
- 186 raids;
- 27 arrests;
- More than 16,000,000 tablets seized with a value of USD 6,650,000.
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Operation Storm is significant for being the first joint operation between three large international organizations: INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization and the World Health Organization, and for targeting counterfeit medicines in Southeast Asia, a region particularly affected by the problem.
Following the operational phase of Storm, a final meeting took place on 17 November 2008 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. As a result Cambodia's Ministry of Health will train a new taskforce to identify and confiscate counterfeit drugs in unregistered pharmacies.
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