Large quantity of counterfeit medicines seized in Sikasso, southern Mali

12 Juin 2020

Bamako, Mali, June 12 (Infosplusgabon) - The Malian Central Narcotics Office (OCS), the body in charge of the fight against drug trafficking and narcotics, has seized a large number of counterfeit pharmaceuticals in Sikasso, 380 km south of Bamako, says a communiqué from the OCS, obtained on Thursday.

Composed of 4 cartons of amoxicillin, 54 cartons of paracetamol, 40 cartons of liquid Cevemac, the products were seized on board a truck.

The communique quoted the OCS's general management as saying that investigations have led to the arrest of four suspected traffickers, including three Malians and one Burkinabe.

During the investigations, the driver confessed, stating that the products were loaded at the Dabanani market in Bamako and was destined for Burkina Faso.

He said the owners are in Bamako, Sikasso and Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso, indicating that the owners have no documents from the health structures, including the Directorate of Pharmacy and Medicines and the Order of Pharmacists of Mali, to cover the drugs.

According to the statement, the modus operandi reveals illicit international trafficking in counterfeit pharmaceuticals between Mali and Burkina Faso.

The driver, the storekeeper and couriers will be charged to the Sikasso Regional Court and tried for international illicit trafficking in counterfeit pharmaceutical products and illegal practice of the profession of a pharmacist.

The investigations are continuing in Bamako to identify and arrest possible accomplices, as well as the pharmaceutical company allegedly supplying the black market.

Trafficking in fake medicines constitutes a serious threat to the health of populations in view of the incalculable consequences linked to the consumption of these spoiled products," the statement recalls, adding that the Malian government and the Malian Order of Pharmacists have been engaged for quite some time in the process of ratifying the Medicrime Convention, which will criminalize the phenomenon and strengthen its legal arsenal.

Médicrime is an international tool that criminalizes the counterfeiting, manufacture, and distribution of medical products placed on the market without authorization or in violation of safety standards.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/MPL/GABON2020

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