A large number of Indian made medicinal products illegally imported in Switzerland were seized by Swissmedic and the Federal Office for Customs and Border Security. These contained COVID-19 medicines like ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine or antibiotics and erectile stimulants from India.
Swiss government agency along with customs had secured 9,421 packages containing illegally imported medicinal products during 2021. This is a significant increase on the previous year, when there were 6,733 such packages.
A Swiss government agency said that around 150 of the packages that were seized were connected with the COVID-19 pandemic. These contained prohibited quantities of prescription-only medicinal products, including anti-parasitics containing ivermectin, medicinal products containing hydroxychloroquine or antibiotics from India.
Swissmedic suspects that new illegal distribution channels have been set up after the authorities successfully shut down the transit route via Singapore in October 2020 as part of the internationally coordinated Hydra operation.
Swissmedic also said that half of illegally sold preparations do not contain what they claim to contain. Taking medicinal products that have been ordered without a prescription or with a sham online prescription is dangerous to health.
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