It was not technically easy to organize the video conference that on Thursday (28.05.20209 at nine in the morning Spanish time) allowed 750 participants from the main European and Latin American police forces to connect, who for more than four hours shared information, intelligence and analysis on the threats in criminal matters that are arising from the coronavirus crisisThe initiative of the International and Ibero-American Foundation, coordinated by the Spanish National Police and the Community of Police of America, Ameripol, included the presentation of specialists from the European Office for the Fight against Fraud and Europol who warned of how Organized crime has taken advantage of the confinement break to break into the business of trafficking in non-approved health protection material and fake medicines related to the Covid-19 and which are already being developed by clandestine laboratories in China and Ukraine, mainly. The meeting, which was attended by La Vanguardia As a guest media outlet, he warned of the arrival on the European market of medicines manufactured in China as traditional medicine that, without having the certificates required by the European Union, are being sold on websites as alternative remedies.
The trafficking of counterfeit medical supplies will have a greater impact on the most vulnerable families, given that the average monthly expenditure on products such as masks or gels exceeds 120 euros, warned the head of the Latin American and Caribbean Unit of the European Union, Jorge de la Caballería. That these counterfeits of materials and medicines are already a reality on both continents was confirmed by the head of the European Union's Anti-Fraud Office, OLAF, Marta Castillo González. With the capacity to investigate in all countries of the European Union and liaison offices in key countries such as China, Ukraine and the United Arab Emirates, where most of the factories and laboratories that produce the counterfeits are located, the investigators have the complicity of customs and those responsible for the brands.
European and Latin American policeErica works together to identify the reconverted clans
Del Castillo warned that what is being most frequently intervened as falsified and unapproved are the masks and more specifically those of the child public. And he warned of the massive arrival of face masks with anagrams of well-known luxury brands that are not even marketing that product.
The shortage of chloroquine and its variant, hydroxychloroquine, in laboratory warehouses, both drugs used in countless medical trials against the coronavirus, has already led to their counterfeiting in laboratories in China, which have found an unbeatable selling point in African markets. The researcher also warned of the risk of the massive entry into the European Union via the Internet of unauthorized drugs that are marketed in China as miracle remedies of traditional medicine and that are being sold to prevent and cure the deadly virus.
EU warns of massive arrival of fake masks with luxury brands' logos
Inspector Roberto Campos, head of the consumer group of the Ucdev of the National Police, assured that to date no case of counterfeit medicines related to Covid-19 has been detected in Spain, although there have been numerous police operations coordinated with the customs service in which falsified or uncertified protective sanitary material has been seized.
The speakers agreed on the need to coordinate prevention policies and exchange of information and intelligence data in the face of sophistication increasingly elaborate criminal networks that are already making significant economic profits from the health crisis.
Source: La Vanguardia
We thank our partners from Europe and America who provided highly relevant information in our Videoconference on illicit trade in medicines and medical supplies in the framework of the # COVID19Many thanks to all the exhibitors and participating institutions. pic.twitter.com/9oNLi0Q1Rf
— AMERIPOL (@AmeripolOrg) May 28, 2020
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