GENERAL TRIAS CITY, Cavite -- Joint police and agents of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) arrested a businessman Wednesday for storing a large volume of assorted counterfeit drugs in his house here.
Joint operatives of the city police, Cavite’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and FDA swooped down on 28-year-old Vonn Reineere Cruz Hernandez in his residence on Tierra Solana Ponteverde Subdvision, Barangay Buenavista 3, and seized 10 large boxes of assorted Unilab-brand medical products and three boxes containing other brands of medicines.
The fake or counterfeit medicines consisted of multivitamins, cough tablets, and paracetamol among others that are normally sold over the counter in retail stores.
Police suspected Hernandez of distributing the counterfeit drugs and medicines to some 200 sari-sari stores in Cavite.
The operatives conducted the raid on the suspect’s residence and another house in the subdivision based on search warrants issued by Judge Cynthia R. Marino-Ricablanca of the Regional Trial Court Branch 27 in Sta. Cruz, Laguna for alleged violation of Republic Act No. 8203, or the “Act Prohibiting Counterfeit Drugs”.
Investigators said the suspect sold the fake medicines for only PHP2 per tablet and the sari-sari store owner in turn sold the fake medicines to customers for PHP10 per tablet.
Upon investigation, Hernandez, a former Unilever worker-turned-merchandise trader, estimated the confiscated items’ retail value at PHP120,000 to PHP150,000. He said he had distributed the counterfeit medicines to at least 200 stores in Imus City alone.
Hernandez also revealed that almost all areas in Cavite are already flooded with “fake medicines”, especially in small stores because besides him, there are at least four other distributors operating in Cavite.
FDA agents said the fake medicines can easily be recognized through their label and the non-readable or fake expiration date. They medicines are also almost broken or powdered.
The suspect is under the custody of the provincial intelligence branch of the Cavite Police, while the contraband items are under inventory as a pre-requisite for the filing of appropriate cases for violation of RA 8203.
Meanwhile, Cavite Police Director Senior Supt. William Segun warned the public against these fake drugs and reminded them to buy medicines or drugs from legitimate pharmacies and drug stores.
Segun also ordered a manhunt for Hernandez's cohorts who are also selling fake medicines around Cavite and neighboring provinces, based on the suspect’s revelation. (Rogelio Limpin/PNA)
