Illegal 'Viagra' sellers caught
One of the ‘gangs’ was allegedly run by a couple of British and American pensioners
One of the ‘gangs’ was allegedly run by a couple of British and American pensioners
TWO different outfits which were illegally selling erectile dysfunction medication and other drugs have been busted by the National Police.
According to a force spokesman, they allegedly operated the largest websites in Spain dedicated to the sale and distribution of these medicines.
He said that the two organisations ‘obtained large profits, which ran to more than €3 million’. In the first of the police raids, officers arrested 33 people in the provinces of Alicante, Murcia, Castellón, Valencia, Madrid, Málaga, Barcelona, Sevilla and Zaragoza – as well as Palma de Mallorca and Valladolid. They recovered 70,000 pills and gels, along with cocaine, ecstasy and poppers.
The investigations began in May last year ‘when officers discovered their activities via webpages’.
The spokesman noted that the items being sold ‘constituted a risk to the health’ of anyone who used them because they had not been subject to any health checks.
Investigations found that one of the organisations was based in Alicante, Murcia and Madrid – and the second, which was allegedly run by a Briton and an American, operated from the Costa del Sol.
They used ‘strict security measures’ to avoid detection and their computer know how boosted the numbers of sales.
The spokesman explained that they operated ‘virtual pharmacies’ which operated from ‘offshore servers’ located in countries outside the jurisdiction of European and US judicial systems.
They were able to make huge profits as they acquired the drugs from countries such as India for ‘a couple of cents a pill’.
Cash was laundered by buying top-of-the-range cars in Germany and other methods.
The Alicante/Murcia gang was made up of residents from Spain, the UK, India, Venezuela, Colombia, China and other countries.
According to the police, their clients bought from websites managed by a computer expert based in Alfaz del Pí.
The Marbella-based operation was allegedly run by a couple in their 70s.
According to the police, they had been operating since 2012 from a countryside property.