Dutch Chemist Jailed Over Fake Cialis Lab

A chemist from Fulham who hoped to flood the UK with homemade illegal erectile dysfunction medication has been jailed for 40 months.

Chistiaan Winkel aged 32 left his job at University College London to make fake Cialis tablets. The Old Bailey heard the Dutchman set up a laboratory in an east London flat where he also planned to make the banned drug ecstasy.

He admitted conspiracy to defraud Lilly UK and conspiracy to manufacture ecstasy. Winkel imported a pill-making machine and precursor chemicals from China, producing samples to show a "potential dealer".

However the dealer proved to be an undercover police officer who had got involved after Winkel unwittingly made contact with investigators on a website. He offered them pills for male impotence.

The judge, Recorder Douglas Day, QC, told him: "You are a highly-intelligent man with great talent.”It is a tragedy to find you here." Det Insp Doug Blackwood, from City of London Police, said after the trial: "The millionaire lifestyle he hoped this crime would fund must now seem a very long way away."

Winkel's runner Safa Ba Seidi aged 36, of Tottenham, north London, admitted conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to supply ecstasy. He was jailed for 21 months.

When police searched his home they found legitimate substances used in Winkel's chemical import business, along with illegal ecstasy ingredients. Winkel's girlfriend, Yuly Sandoval Mora aged 33, of Holloway, north London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud. She was given an eight-month suspended sentence.

Mick Deats, of the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHPRA), said: "This is a rare case of counterfeit medicines being manufactured in the UK. "We generally find that counterfeit medicines found in this country have originated from the Far East."

CHINESE COUNTERFEIT DRUG DISTRIBUTOR SENTENCED TO PRISON

A man from China was sentenced on Monday to 12 months and a day in prison for conspiring to distribute counterfeit pharmaceuticals, and trafficking in pharmaceuticals with false labeling and counterfeit trademarks. The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney José Angel Moreno, Southern District of Texas. The investigation was conducted by agents with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Office of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Office of Criminal Investigations.

Kum Leung Chow, aka Lawrence Chow, 59, pleaded guilty to the federal charges on June 28 and sentenced on Monday to 12 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt. Chow was arrested on Jan. 27 and has been in federal custody since that date and will remain in custody to serve out his sentence. Chow is subject to deportation after he completes his sentence.
The ICE HSI investigation began in January 2009 and revealed that Chow used a Hong Kong-based company named Kingdom International Enterprises LTD to obtain and distribute counterfeit Viagra and Cialis pharmaceutical drugs in the United States. Viagra and Cialis are prescription drugs that are FDA-approved and used to treat erectile dysfunction. They are registered trademarks on the principal register in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Viagra is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, while Cialis is manufactured and distributed exclusively by Eli Lilly.
Chow offered boxes containing four Viagra tablets and boxes containing eight Cialis tablets for $10 a box on two Internet websites. The retail cost for each Viagra tablet is about $20, while each Cialis tablet is about $15.20. Working in an undercover capacity, ICE agents purchased about 1,120 Viagra tablets and about 360 Cialis tablets from Chow via the Internet on March 25, 2009, and April 28, 2009. Shipping documents accompanying the pharmaceuticals indicated they were exported from mainland China and Hong Kong.
The pharmaceuticals were later analyzed by the trademark holders and the FDA Forensic Chemistry Center which indicated the pharmaceuticals were counterfeit. These counterfeit pharmaceutical products may have harmed the public if law enforcement were not involved in monitoring the Internet.
Chow has been in federal custody since he was arrested Jan. 27; he will remain in custody to serve out his sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Samuel Louis, Southern District of Texas, prosecuted the case.

Source: http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/News/National_News/CHINESE_COUNTERFEIT_DRUG_DISTRIBUTOR_SENTENCED_TO_PRISON/36351

Man caught with fake Viagra and cocaine in underwear jailed for two years

A drug dealer caught with fake Viagra tablets and cocaine in his underwear has been jailed for two years.

Tottenham resident James Broughton, 23, was caught with the blue tablets after officers on patrol in Ballards Lane, Finchley, spotted him acting oddly sat in his car in on March 19 this year.

When officers searched his Chrysler PT Cruiser they uncovered the phony sex drugs and a quantity of cash.

A further search at Colindale Police Station uncovered 16 wraps of cocaine in his underwear worth nearly £1,000.

When police searched his house they found more cocaine and digital scales with traces of the drug hidden in his fridge.

On Friday he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with intent to supply at Wood Green Crown Court and was given the two-year jail term.

DC Nick Harvey the officer in the case said: “A young man, only just married, has now lost his freedom by dealing in drugs.

“It should be clear to those who consider drugs an easy source of money - that there is nothing easy about moving your drugs through Barnet.

“Dealing drugs is hazardous to your liberty and police powers will make it disastrous to your pocket. This case clearly shows the serious consequences.”