50,000 packs of false cancer drugs seized in Rostov region
ROSTOV-ON-DON. Oct 19 (Interfax) - Investigators from the Interior Ministry's Main Department and officials from the Federal Security Service Department for the Rostov region have been investigating a criminal case involving for the dissemination of false cancer and HIV drugs for more than a year.
The damage done to pharmaceutical manufactures as a result of the dissemination of these false drugs exceeds one billion rubles.
"Police officers have determined another three drug brands whose false copies were disseminated through pharmacy chains in Moscow, the Moscow region, Kabardino-Balkaria, the Rostov region, and the Voronezh region. The false drugs have also been supplied to a children's cancer center in Nalchik," the Interior Ministry's Main Department for the Rostov region has reported.
Searches of the suspects' residences and production sites and offices located in the Rostov region have yielded some 50,000 packs of false drugs. The value of one pack ranges from 2,000 rubles to 60,000 rubles.
The press service for the Interior Ministry's Main Department for the Rostov region said the criminal group, which consists of six people, including three residents of the Rostov region, are accused of counterfeiting expensive drugs used in the treatment of cancer and HIV-positive patients.
According to earlier reports, three suspects in this crime were detained in the Rostov region in fall 2012. They are kept in police custody under a court ruling.