Fake prescription medicines seized in raid
Fake prescription medicines seized in raid
JAKARTA (JP): Police seized thousands of fake prescription
pills and tablets worth an estimated Rp 100 million (US$12,500)
during raids on a warehouse and two kiosks in East Jakarta on
Tuesday afternoon.
Jakarta Police Detective chief Col. Alex Bambang Riatmodjo
said on Wednesday that the medicines had been packaged in exactly
the same way as the authentic drugs, which are only available on
prescription.
The drugs, which included the anti-rheumatic skelan, incidal,
cloramphenical, dextamethasone, gestanon, diamicron, dextamine
and at least 25 bottles of unmarked pills, have been retained by
police as evidence, Alex said.
The drugs were believed to have been produced in Tangerang and
Surabaya, the capital of East Java.
Police also arrested three people suspected of supplying and
selling the pills and tablets, Alex said.
He identified the three detainees as 43-year-old Tan Yean Ho,
who is also known by the aliases of Yanto and Aho, 28-year-old
Sumarta and 28-year-old Hartono Kurniawan.
He said police decided to raid the two kiosks on Jl. Pramuka
after a long period of surveillance.
"Based on a tip-off from the public, we concentrated our
surveillance activities on the two kiosks," Alex said.
He said the suspects had caused material losses to
pharmaceutical factories and endangered members of the public who
unwittingly consumed the medicines.
One of the suspects, Sumarta, said that he only sold the
medicines and did not know where they were manufactured, adding
that Aho charged lower prices than official pharmaceutical
agencies.
"The cheaper prices enabled me to earn a higher profit and
offer my customers a more attractive price," Sumarta said.
He admitted to selling products supplied by Aho over a period
of almost five years.
Hartono Kurniawan, who started his business three years ago,
disclosed that selling fake prescription medicines could earn him
profits three times larger than from the sale of legitimately
manufactured products.
"I can sell a pack of incidal tablets for Rp 5,000 and earn a
profit of Rp 2,500," he said.
Hartono, who seemed upset, said that he did not know why he
was singled out for arrest when many other vendors sold fake
prescription medicines from nearby stalls.
He also said he knew little about how the medicines were
produced, saying: "I'm a salesman and my skill is to sell my
merchandise."
The supplier, Aho, was arrested at his home in Jembatan Besi,
West Jakarta, shortly after the police had taken the two sellers
into custody.
Aho then accompanied the officers to the warehouse where he
kept his supplies of fake medicines.
Police grilled Aho over his links to a man identified as
Sutjipto, a resident of Surabaya suspected of masterminding the
manufacture and supply of fake prescription medicines in Jakarta
and a number of provinces throughout the country. (emf)