Hong Kong Customs Shames Counterfeiters

The Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department has promised to crack down on fake drug sellers and publicly publish the name of pharmacies and retails who are caught with them.

Thomas Lin Shun-yin, head of investigations for the Department of Intellectual Property said that while the number of raw number of fake drugs seized in 2010 is less than in 2009, the street value of said products rose 50%, reported the Hong Kong Standard.

In 2009, 46 cases were investigated, while only 22 were in 2010, however with an increase in total value of HK$1.62 million. In relation to these twenty-two cases, 37 people have been arrested. Lin said that the counterfeiters had packaged the drugs such that they were difficult to identify.

Most interceptions were made at border and wholesalers, with very few retailers caught with counterfeit drugs on their shelves, he said, including four undercover operations.

Lin also said that the department will work with the Consumer Council to publish the names and addresses of shops found to be selling fake drugs.