Counterfeit drugs worth P.6 M seized in Pangasinan

CALASIAO, Pangasinan — The municipal police seized about P600,000 worth of counterfeit drugs from two women who were supposed to deliver them to their customers in the province and elsewhere in the Ilocos region last Friday.

Surprisingly, a list confiscated from the suspects, identified as Alma Domingo, 28, and Glenda Versoza, 30, showed that some of their customers are doctors themselves, 10 of them in Pangasinan and two others in Ilocos Sur, as well as a distributor in Ilocos Sur.

Chief Superintendent Poli—carpio Cayabyab, Calasiao police chief, told The STAR that they are set to file charges for violations of Republic Act 8203, the law on counterfeit drugs, and RA 9165 or the Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002 against the two suspects.

The two women, who claimed to be operating for two months only, could not present documents showing they are engaged in a legitimate business.

According to Cayabyab, his men saw them acting suspiciously on board a tricycle and invited them for questioning when their bag was found to contain medicines.

Investigation showed that the suspects got their supplies from a Pakistani, a certain Sam, who, in turn, has a contact in Bayambang town.

They told the police that they have been meeting this contact every three weeks in a Dagupan City mall to pay their previous supplies and to get new stocks.

Dr. Alfredo de Vera Jr., the municipal health officer whom Cayabyab called on to check the seized drugs, found 140 Valium tablets, considered dangerous drugs, among others.

Dr. Ray Jacinto, regional chief of the Department of Health’s Standards and Regulation Division, and Renato Padilla, regional supervisor of the Bureau of Food and Drugs, who happened to be in the province for a routine check of pharmacies, dropped by and certified that the seized drugs were counterfeit.