Between 3 to 10 October, the Ministry of Health’s Pharmaceutical Enforcement Division carried out Operation Pangea XVI, and successfully blocked access to 1,675 websites engaged in the illicit sale of pharmaceutical products.
Furthermore, authorities seized various products valued at over RM500,000 during this coordinated effort.
Norhaliza A Halim, the senior director of Pharmacy Services at the Ministry of Health (MOH), highlighted that 76% of the identified websites selling illegal pharmaceutical products operated through e-commerce platforms, according to Bernama.
Upon detecting these illicit activities, complaints were promptly forwarded to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), as well as social media and e-commerce platform providers. The goal was to ensure the blocking of access to these sites and the removal of their content.
In a statement, Norhaliza expressed concern over the rising trend of unauthorised sales of controlled drugs, including psychotropic substances, painkillers, antibiotics, and cough medicine.
She underscored the importance of adhering to existing laws in the pharmaceutical supply chain, marketing, and advertisement broadcasting.
Globally coordinated by Interpol, Operation Pangea XVI aimed to combat the online advertising, supply, and sale of unregistered or counterfeit pharmaceutical products.
The operation yielded significant results worldwide, including 72 arrests, the confiscation of pharmaceutical products exceeding USD7 million (~RM32.2 million) in value, the initiation of 325 investigation files, and the closure of over 1,300 advertisement links.
