Record counterfeit pharmaceutical case filed in Vietnam

Jul 8, 2011, 6:05 GMT

Hanoi - An indictment has been filed against 15 people accused of running the biggest fake drug ring in Vietnam, officials said Friday.

The group could face trial within two months if the court accepts the indictment, a senior official the Ho Chi Minh People's Procuracy said.

Most of the suspects were arrested in 2010 after a year-long police investigation into Vietnam-France Pharmaceutical Joint Stock Company, a firm that allegedly sold locally produced pharmaceuticals, including nausea suppressants and multivitamins, with fake brand names and quality assurances.

According to the indictment, in January last year, police intercepted an employee delivering fake drugs to the company. Based on his testimony, police stormed 10 stores owned by the firm across Ho Chi Minh City and seized 18 packages of fake medicine.

Police arrested 14 people, but former company director Huynh Ngoc Quang, 29, fled the scene. He was arrested in March following a manhunt.

The raid revealed 41 varieties of drugs with counterfeit brand names, some bought from local manufacturers and some made in-house, including Sibelium and Motilium-M claiming to be manufactured by US company Johnson & Johnson.

Quang admitted selling 65,000 blister packs worth more than 50,000 dollars. An unknown number of fake medicines were exported to Cambodia, according to police.

Under Vietnamese law, anyone who makes or trades fake medicines may be fined up to 50 million dong (2,500 dollars) and sentenced to 12 years in prison.