Officers of the local Mauritius Anti-Drug and Smuggling Unit (ADSU) have seized a batch of medical drugs that the medical authorities believe to be counterfeit.
Sources at police headquarters in Port Louis indicate that following a morning raid on Monday at a pharmacy in Curepipe, 20 km from Port Louis, some 10, 000 pills of the drug with the brand name “Esose” have been seized.
The pills, the sources add, are supposed to cure persons suffering from headaches, stomach pain and ulcers.
The sources add that on the boxes containing the drug, the name of the manufacturer, an Indian subsidiary of the British laboratory Glenmark appears.
But, add the sources, Glenmark manufactures a drug called Esoz and not Esose and that it is the local representative of the British laboratory that has uncovered the importation of the counterfeit drug and informed the police.
The representative, who requested anonymity for security reasons, disclosed that he was surprised when he discovered that Esose was being sold at half the price of the original drug Esoz while on the boxes of Esose, it is claimed that it has the same chemical ingredients as the original.
The local authorities have, for the last three years, taken every step to prevent counterfeit drugs from entering the country. They argue that Mauritius has earned the reputation of being the “Hub” of counterfeit drugs in the region.
They declare that already in October 2006, one Seychellois and one Australian were arrested for the importation of some 185,000 psychotropic drugs into the country.
Both were the owners of companies operating in the Port Louis port.
Source African Press Agency
