http://content.govdelivery.com/bulletins/gd/USDHSICE-147fd6 Pangea IV operations within the United States resulted in 92 seizures, consisting of 57,052 pills, including counterfeit Cialis and Viaga, with a manufacturer suggested retail price of $925,520. With 53 countries reporting their results to date, 13,495 websites engaged in illegal activity have now been taken down for. In addition, 45,419 packages were inspected by regulators and customs officials, 7,901 packages were seized containing more than 2.4 million illicit and counterfeit pills originating from 48 countries - including antidepressants, antibiotics, steroids, arthritis medicine, lifestyle drugs and diet pills. Seized pharmaceuticals are estimated to be worth $6.3 million. During the operation, 55 individuals were arrested and are under investigation for a range of offenses, including illegally selling and supplying unlicensed or prescription-only medicines. Some 36 search warrants were executed. "Operations like this highlight why international partnerships are such an essential weapon in the fight against trafficking of counterfeit pharmaceuticals," said ICE Director John Morton. "People who purchase drugs should never have to be put at risk because the product is fake, unsafe or untested." "INTERPOL's member countries and partners have shown through the success of Operation Pangea IV that the Internet is not an anonymous safe haven for criminals trafficking illicit medicines," said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble. "The main objective in Operation Pangea IV was to harness collective action across different sectors to assist authorities and stakeholders in INTERPOL's 188 member countries to shut down illegal pharmaceutical websites and identify the money flows and sources behind these illicit pharmaceutical products which represent such a threat to the health of the public. Our thanks go to the police, customs and health regulatory officials in the 81 participating countries. In particular, effective and close coordination between police and customs authorities has shown the way forward in combating the illegal online trade of medicines, and the day-to-day support from health regulatory agencies in the UK and USA, as well as from customs representatives from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, was also critical to the success of Operation Pangea IV." -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Joly MacFie 218 565 9365 Skype:punkcast WWWhatsup NYC - http://wwwhatsup.com http://pinstand.com - http://punkcast.com VP (Admin) - ISOC-NY - http://isoc-ny.org -------------------------------------------------------------- -