Sekhou police and Shenzhen drug administration seized 140,000 fake Viagra pills worth more than 5 million yuan ($805,765) during a raid on a counterfeit drug wholesale den on March 24, Shenzhen Business Daily reports.
Police raided the residential building on Qianhai Road in Nanshan district following a tip-off from an anonymous source, who said that fake Viagra pills were being sold online to Chinese buyers. The operation saw police arrest three suspects.
The blue pills were then tested by Shenzhen’s drug administration who confirmed they were indeed counterfeit, but mimicked the effects of the Pfizer-manufactured pro-erection drug. No middle-aged married couples have yet come forward to verify the drug administration’s findings.
The contraband drugs could contain chalk, brick dust, paint, or pesticides, Pfizer’s senior scientist Amy Callanan warned. A batch of fake Viagra sold to South Korea from China was allegedly found to contain remains of human fetuses, Bloomberg Business Week reported.
Multiple cases of counterfeit drug selling rings have been uncovered in China. The widespread practice stems from the reasonably high price of legitimate Viagra, and the embarrassment many men face from having to visit a doctor for a prescription for the drug.
In 2013, researchers at Sun Yat Sen University in Guangdong found that genuine Viagra can help prevent cancer during lab tests on mice. In collaboration with other anti-cancer treatments, the pills not only reduced tumors in size but also protected the heart.
[Image via Flickr // Via The Nanfang]
0 User Comments