Operation PANGEA XVIII: Over 220 locations checked for illegal medicines and supplements

Over 220 establishments have been inspected - pharmacies, drugstores, fitness centers, beauty salons, warehouses, and others across the country during specialized operations within the framework of the international operation PANGEA XVIII. It was implemented with the assistance of the EU member states, the Secretary General of the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO) - Interpol, Europol, and the World Customs Organization. This was announced by the General Directorate "National Police" (GDNP) on its website.

At the beginning of the month, an illegal production base for fake anabolic steroids, medicinal products, and food supplements was busted in the capital. A man was detained. Four premises used by the man for the production of liquid preparations and tablets and filling them into ampoules and blisters were found. Over 200 boxes and plastic containers containing over a million pills, numerous sacks of raw materials for the production of medicinal products, ampoules with liquid, glass vials with injection solution, and several machines used for the production process of pills were found and seized there.

In a pharmacy in Sofia, during a controlled purchase, the sale of medicinal products requiring a "medical prescription" was detected without a prescription being provided. During the inspection, it was established that the medicinal product had been sold illegally in large quantities in the past.

In pharmacies in Burgas, the sale of medicinal products in the absence of a master pharmacist was established, as well as medications with expired shelf life. In a beauty salon in the seaside city, consumables for needle introduction, numerous factory-packaged needles, as well as packages of botulinum toxin, "fillers" - medicinal products prohibited for use outside a doctor's office and without a training certificate were found.

Expired food supplements were found in a commercial establishment in Ruse.