Operation uncovers large-scale drug forgery and sale in Fergana

A rapid operation in the Fergana region led to the seizure of counterfeit and unlicensed medicines. The operation, reported by the State Security Service, resulted in the arrest of several individuals involved in the illegal sale and production of substandard drugs.

Authorities detained a 20-year-old resident of Kokand City while he was loading 2005 ampoules of "Mydocalm" and 750 ampoules of "L-lysine escinate" into his Lacetti car. The drugs were found to lack quality certificates and documents verifying their validity. Further investigation at his home revealed a stockpile of counterfeit medicines, including 1,177 ampoules of Actovegin, 165 Tavegil, 30 L-lysine escinate, 2,700 unbranded ampoules, and other materials used to falsify the drugs.

Special equipment such as counterfeit labels, medicine instructions, and colored plastic containers used to modify the drug names were also discovered. Authorities found that the young suspect and his accomplice—a 1980-born man—had set up an illegal workshop for producing counterfeit drugs by hand.

The counterfeit medicines, which violated proper storage conditions, were evaluated by experts and deemed unsuitable for medical use. The total value of these illegal drugs was estimated at 78 million soums. This wasn't the suspect's first offense; he had previously been involved in similar activities, and despite facing criminal charges under Article 1863 of the Criminal Code, he continued his illegal operations.

As a result of this operation, criminal cases have been initiated against both suspects under Article 1863, which covers the illegal production, acquisition, and sale of substandard or counterfeit medicines.

Additionally, a 41-year-old individual was arrested in Kokand while selling 800 unverified tablets of "Dufaston" for 800,000 soums. Following a search of his apartment, law enforcement discovered 405,000 tablets of various drugs, including "Elevit," "Ursosan," "Dufaston," "Iodomarin," and "Duspatalin", along with 5,000 instruction manuals and 1,200 packaging boxes, all without proper quality certification. The total value of these items was estimated at 1.8 billion soums.

Further investigations revealed that a 1983-born individual, with a criminal history, had also been involved in counterfeiting operations. Authorities found 900 counterfeit "Mydocalm" labels in his possession, and it was discovered he had ordered 2,000 counterfeit labels and instructions for the drugs “Diprosan” and “Tavegil.”

As of now, pre-trial investigations are underway for these individuals.

This operation comes after another similar case in the Tashkent region, where a person was arrested for trafficking counterfeit medicines, selling 10,255 boxes of 8 types of drugs, valued at $19,000 without the required documentation.