site.btaInternational Operation Targeting Network Selling Fake Medicines and Supplements Ongoing in Bulgaria

An international operation aimed at combating a criminal group selling dietary supplements advertised as medicines that cure serious illnesses is underway, Sofia City Prosecution Office (SCPO) announced on Thursday. The operation is led and supervised by the SCPO.

The group has generated profits amounting to EUR 240 million through criminal activities. On May 12, prosecutors and law enforcement officials from 15 countries, including Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Poland, Moldova, Cyprus, Czechia, Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain, carried out an operation with the assistance of Eurojust and Europol.

In Bulgaria, over 30 searches were carried out in homes, office premises, and motor vehicles, individuals were searched, and numerous witnesses were interviewed. A large amount of evidence was found and seized, which is to be analysed.

The operation was launched after a former health minister alerted the SCPO, reporting that his name and image were being used in false advertisements of products of unclear origin that were supposedly medicine. During the investigation, several pre-trial proceedings were consolidated, including a doctor’s report in the capital. Numerous witnesses were interviewed, and an international element was identified in the case. Following the proceedings, the supervising prosecutor from the SCPO concluded an agreement to establish a joint investigation team with Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Moldova.

Based on the joint agreement, an international operation was carried out that same day in various cities across Bulgaria by investigators from the SCPO's investigation department and other investigation services, as well as officers from the Cybercrime Directorate at Bulgaria's General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and the Sofia Directorate of Internal Affairs. With the permission of the SCPO, representatives of Europol and police officers from the countries participating in the joint team were also present during the on-site operations.

The investigation into the case is ongoing.

Romanian authorities, in cooperation with European partners, have dismantled an international network dealing in fake medicines and supplements. The central warehouse was discovered in Bulgaria, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), the law enforcement agency of the Romanian government tasked with investigating and prosecuting organized crime, drug trafficking, cybercrime, financial crimes, and terrorism-related offenses, announced earlier today. In Romania, 250,000 boxes of tablets and bottles containing various substances falsely advertised as food supplements or alternatives to medicines were seized. The average selling price was EUR 35 per item. A total of 196 websites used to promote and sell the products were blocked.