The international campaign, coordinated with Europol, aimed to prevent illegal imports of medicinal products, doping agents and narcotics. In Switzerland, Swissmedic, the FOCBS and SSI took part. They examined online trading in medicinal products for legal selling methods and inspected 1,009 suspicious postal consignments. In one quarter of the consignments, the medicinal products or doping agents were imported illegally – a clear indication of the importance of control measures.
The results at a glance:
- 1,009 suspicious consignments were inspected
- 767 consignments contained erectile stimulants (of which 18% with excessive dosages)
- 246 seizures of medicinal product consignments, of which
- 18 containing doping agents
- 8 containing narcotics
- More than 90% of the seized medicinal products originated from India, while only around half of the packages were sent directly from India.
Proven cooperation of Swiss authorities
FOCBS employees checked the consignments together with experts from the responsible authorities at the Zurich-Mülligen sorting office. Where breaches of the Therapeutic Products Act were suspected, they were handed over directly to Swissmedic; SSI was responsible for the doping consignments discovered.
The results clearly show that illegal trading in medicinal products is a global problem and operates across national borders. The confiscated consignments included a broad range of lifestyle products including erectile stimulants, slimming preparations and hormones through to dangerous narcotics.
Anyone who responds to dubious offers on the Internet is not only risking their health but also supporting criminal networks. They also run the risk of becoming a victim of (credit card) fraud. This is also linked with financial losses through to full-blown identity theft.
The findings from the campaign in Switzerland were reported to Europol for coordination purposes. This ensures that those EU countries which were most frequently identified as the country of origin for illegal consignments have been informed. In its coordinating role in preventing and tackling international crime, Europol will publish an overview of the checks performed and their results in the coming year.
