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Mastermind Behind the Sale of Fake Drugs Sentenced

A man from UK, considered as the top dog of a worldwide conspiracy circle for trading counterfeit medicines via the Internet, was sentenced on September 17, 2007. He will be detained in jail for four years and six months for being involved in Britain's biggest ever-counterfeit drug dealings.

33-year old Ashish Halai orchestrated the multi-million pound operation of fake lucrative medicines and Viagra drugs from the factories in India, Pakistan and China and traded them in the US, Bahamas and the UK.

The process included fake packaging in the operation along with false labels, leaflets giving false patient information and even documents making fraudulent claims of legitimate companies. Halai started his operation through a north London pharmacy that he had set up with his wife, a bona fide pharmacist, who was originally specialized in herbal weight-loss drugs.

Prosecutors convicted three more men charged with conspiracy. They were Halai's brother-in-law Ashwin Patel, 24, Gary Haywood, 58 and Zahid Mirza, 45, based in Pakistan. Their sentences are still to be announced. Four more men are waiting for a retrial because the jury could not reach an agreement on the verdicts. The fraudsters used licensed wholesalers and distributed the high-valued fake medicines in a large-scale movement through the Internet between 2002 -2005.

Authorities arrested Halai in June 2005 after which Halai admitted committing 4 counts of offences relating to sale and marketing of the counterfeit drugs. While Halai was supplying fake medicines to the markets in the US, he claimed in the court that he was innocent and was working on behalf of his father residing in Kenya. Customs officers at Stansted airport found that Halai was carrying plastic packets containing dog protein and fish protein. But actually, the package contained 12,000 diamond-shaped pills.

The prosecution that came out successful should send a clear message to those thinking about supplying fake medicines. People are strongly advised against buying medicines over the Internet, as risks of receiving counterfeit medicines are very high, said Mick Deats, Head of enforcement at the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency. Adfero published this in news on September 17, 2007.

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