Gang making fake drugs busted in HCMC

Lu Phu Tham, 44, and his accomplices Dang Thi Hong Duyen, 40, Le Thi Anh Nga, 39, and Duong Thi Thu Thao, 41, face charges of "producing and trading counterfeit drugs."

Lu Phu Tham and his accomplices at the time of being arrested in HCMC's District 10, April 19, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Vy

According to the police, Tham is the leader of the group that started its criminal operation two years ago.

It would buy various medicines that were close to expiry or of unknown origin at low prices from a number of sources.

The gang would remove the embossed production and expiry dates on the packaging and use chemicals to erase the printed text before printing new information.

Another fraudulent practice involved buying large quantities of cheap local drugs and replacing the original labels with those of expensive imported drugs.

After monitoring Tham and his accomplices for a while the police simultaneously raided several locations associated with them in mid-April.

Lu Phu Tham shows the police the counterfeit drug his gang made, April 19, 2024. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Vy

They seized 100,000 strips, boxes, bottles, and tubes of various fake drugs, 35,000 counterfeit drug boxes, labels and stickers, date printing machines, heat presses and equipment for producing fake drugs.

Notable among the counterfeit drugs was Salbuboston, a prescription drug for the treatment of bronchial asthma, chronic bronchitis.

The police said the legal manufacturer of the drug had stopped making it in 2017 since it contained a substance banned for human use.

They are investigating what quantity has been consumed in the market and how the gang distributed the drugs.