Customs seizes P25M worth of fake medicines

Bureau of Customs operatives on Wednesday seized some P25 million in illegally imported medicines that were found to be fake and expired or expiring.

Customs deputy commissioner for intelligence Danilo Lim said the medicines were found in one 40-foot container van seized at the Manila International Container Port.

"The seized illegally imported medicines had brands like Simvastatin, Centrum Multivitamins, Perigo (Ibuprofen), and Amoxycillin," Lim said in a post on his Twitter account.

He said Customs intellectual property rights division operatives got suspicious about the shipment when they noticed it was in a dry container van with no temperature control.

Lim said this was the latest in a series of seizures that involved high-value goods such as cigarettes.

“We will aggressively pursue this smuggling attempt and find out who are those involved in this, and we shall recommend for the filing of appropriate charges against them. “ he said.

Investigation showed the fake and expired medicines was consigned to Mountain Glory Agri Sales Corp., but a check with the Food and Drug Administration showed the company had no license to operate or import medicines.

For his part, Customs commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon said this was a big haul "not only in terms of otherwise foregone revenues, but more importantly, because of the countless Filipino lives that could have been saved by this seizure.” — BM, GMA News