Fake Viagra tablets seized in capital

BY PMA RASHEED
The Gulf Today, 3 Nov 2009

The UAE Ministry of Health (MoH) has seized a huge quantity of counterfeit Viagra tablets that were about to be exported through the borders of the UAE.
The attempt to smuggle 1.75 million pills of the fake medicine, used to treat sexual impotence in men, was thwarted by the MoH in a joint operation along with Abu Dhabi Police and Customs officials.
Dr Amin Bin Hussain Al Amiri, Executive Director of Medical Practices and Licensing at the MoH, said that the cargo of about 86 cartons of counterfeit Viagra pills were intended to be exported through the port of Ghwaifat.
“The Control and Registration Department of the MoH had discovered that the cargo of pharmaceutical formula contained the bulk quantity of fake Viagra that weren’t registered in the records of medicinal types at the health ministry,” he added.
According to him, a clothes and textiles company attempted to export the drugs using documents for the shipment of their products. The company was actually permitted to export clothing and blankets, but not medicinal products.
Al Amiri pointed out that the Vigra tablets were not allowed for use in the UAE.
“Upon further inspections, the products were found to be manufactured in China and India,” he noted.