Thai police hunting financier behind $3.8m counterfeit cough medicine ring

BANGKOK – Police in Thailand are hunting the financier behind a suspected counterfeit cough and allergy medicine network after raids on two production sites in Samut Sakhon. The authorities estimated losses linked to the operation at more than 100 million baht (S$3.8 million).Pallop Aeromla, deputy commissioner of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau, and Supattra Boonserm, secretary-general of the Food and Drug Administration, joined other officials in announcing the results of the joint operation.Investigators believe the network had been operating for one to two years, distributing counterfeit medicines nationwide. Items seized include production machinery, mixing tanks and packaging materials.Police searched the two sites in Na Khok sub-district, Mueang Samut Sakhon district, at 2pm on Sept 22.Nine workers found bottling medicineAt the first location, a large factory with a single-storey production building surrounded by rice fields, officers found nine workers filling bottles with medicine.They seized production machinery, more than 100 blue drums containing medicine, and large quantities of counterfeit bottle caps and product labels.Second site held materials for about 100,000 bottlesThe second location is a black, single-storey warehouse about 16km away. The building has no street number and is also situated amid rice fields.Officers found that it was being used to prepare and mix ingredients. Inside were about 10 boiling pots, syrup and more than 200 drums of materials awaiting mixing.The authorities estimated that the materials could be used to fill about 100,000 bottles. THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK