Cooperation between Finnish Customs and Fimea leads to the discovery of an illegal pharmaceutical factory in Greece

As a result of the authorities’ cooperation, an operation by the Greek police and the Greek medicines agency in June uncovered an unauthorised pharmaceutical factory near Athens. The unauthorised pharmaceutical factory, where illicit medicinal products were manufactured, had been built in the basement of a pharmacy As part of the operation, the police arrested the owner of the pharmacy and 13 other people.

“In this case, the key to success was the low-threshold cooperation between Finnish Customs and Fimea, as well as the networking and cooperation with other European agencies,” says Sami Paaskoski, Senior Pharmaceutical Inspector at Fimea.

Suspicions raised by a medicine sent to Finland

Last November, Finnish Customs observed something unusual in the documents of a medicine sent to a private individual in Finland. The prescription medicine to be imported did not correspond to the prescription, the prescription of the medicine seemed unclear and the sender of the parcel, which had come from Greece, did not appear to be a legal pharmacy.

Finnish Customs asked Fimea for additional information to determine the legality of the shipment, and Fimea began to investigate the matter. On the basis of the additional information that was uncovered, Fimea contacted the Greek medicines agency. As the matter was investigated, it became increasingly clear that the case involved more organised and extensive illegal manufacture and sale of medicinal products.

“One of the duties of Finnish Customs is to identify anomalies in cross-border flows of goods. This case is a good example of how a single observation made during control can lead to the detection of extensive international crime when we cooperate,” says Anne Pullinen, Senior Customs Officer at Finnish Customs.

Illicit products had been sold to 90 countries

Products manufactured in the illegal factory run by a Greek pharmacist had been sold to 90 countries, for example via websites. The illegal factory produced a wide range of medicines, including those used for weight loss and the treatment of erectile dysfunction, as well as doping substances.

The origin of the raw materials used was questionable. Some of the finished products were counterfeit branded products, and in some of the products, the medicinal substance used was not yet even being used in products with a marketing authorisation.

“This case is also a good reminder that medicines should be purchased from legal pharmacies, also when you are buying online. There is no way to guarantee that the products sold in the illegal medicine trade are safe to use,” says Sami Paaskoski.

Finnish Customs monitors the import of medicines and Fimea provides expert assistance

Finnish Customs monitors the import of medicines, and Fimea provides expert assistance to Finnish Customs if necessary. Fimea is a member of the European Union’s cooperation group for medicines agencies that deals with counterfeit medicines and pharmaceutical crime.

These cooperation mechanisms enabled a single observation made by Finnish Customs, the smooth cooperation between Finnish Customs and Fimea, and Fimea’s networking with the medicines agencies of other EU Member States to result in a significant and concrete outcome.

Inquiries

Fimea
Sami Paaskoski, Senior Pharmaceutical Inspector,
tel. +358 29 522 3237

Finnish Customs
Anne Pullinen, Senior Customs Officer,
inquiries via Finnish Customs’ media contacts, tel. +358 295 527 150