Operation Lauren seizes counterfeit drugs
Woman in Stoke-on-Trent charged with possession and intent to supply
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has had a successful conclusion to an investigation into products sold via a website.
A 51-year-old woman has been sentenced to eight months in prison at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court for the possession of controlled drugs with the intent to supply, and for the possession of medicines with the intent to place them on the market without a licence.
The MHRA’s investigation into www.pharma2u.com, which began in January 2008, revealed that branded Prescription Only Medicines, such as Viagra, advertised for sale on the website, were posted from Southern Cyprus. Tests carried out as part of the probe found these medicines to be counterfeit.
Operation Lauren was a joint investigation by MHRA investigators and Staffordshire Police. They visited five addresses in March 2009: three residential and two commercial. Small amounts of drugs were recovered from the business addresses, and seizures were made at the home of Norma Ene Ruutel-Glykys in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. This address proved to be the UK distribution centre for the website.
The operation seized computers, stationery, a cash card machine and a total of 65,000 drugs and Prescription Only Medicines.
Ruutel-Glykys was charged in September 2009 and later pleaded guilty at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court on 15 February 2010.
MHRA Head of Enforcement Mick Deats said: ‘Illegal suppliers do not care about quality control or standards, and people who purchase their medicine from these websites will never know where the product has originated from or what it might contain.
‘People running these websites are not healthcare professionals; in fact, they are not professional in any way shape or form. They’re simply financially motivated criminals making a living at the expense of people’s health.’