S'pore battles trade in fake drugs

S'pore battles trade in fake drugs

SINGAPORE: Singapore has sentenced a woman to a year in jail for distributing fake anti-impotence drugs to illegal street peddlers, highlighting a robust market for bogus Viagra in the city-state, authorities said on Friday.

Lu Suxiang, 43, a Chinese national, was jailed and fined S$2,500 (US$1,468) for distributing the drugs without a license and for immigration offenses, the Health Sciences Authority said in a statement.

Since January last year, 15 people have been prosecuted for dealing in anti-impotence drugs in Singapore and more than 28,000 tablets and capsules have been seized, the statement said.

Police seized 10,001 fake Viagra, Cialis and other unlicensed anti-impotence pills containing sildenafil - a key ingredient in Viagra- from Lu, the statement said. The bust accounts for almost a third of the total seized in the past year.

Lu could have been jailed for up to two years and fined US$5,000, the authority said. -- AP