Angolan police seize 11,000 kilo of counterfeit medicines

Angolan police seized over 11,000 kilograms of counterfeit medicines in August as part of an operation launched by the international criminal police organization.

The operation, simultaneously taking place in Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique and Swaziland, is aimed to streamline the medicine markets, according to the official news agency Angop on Saturday.

In Angola, the operation was coordinated by the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC), involving the inspection departments of the ministries of health, trade and the General Tax Administration and aimed at dismantling the drug crime networks in the country.

SIC Deputy Director-General Freire dos Santos said the operation in his country involved a total of 195 officers from his institution.

The seized drugs, with a market value of over 100 million Kuwanzas (about 800,000 U.S. dollars), were essentially for diseases like malaria, antibiotics, sexual stimulants and anabolic steroids.

As a result of the operation, about 20 drug supply stores were closed in Angola, Angop said.