The Jakarta Globe, January 25, 2014.
Bandung Police on Friday raided a massive counterfeit drug factory that was churning out millions of fake pills and turning over roughly Rp 16 billion ($1.3 million) in profit per month.
“We were informed by the locals who were suspicious of the activities going on in the building,” Bandung Police chief Sr. Comr. Mashudi said as quoted by the state-run Antara news agency. “We monitored [the factory] for a week before the raid.”
Police arrested the factory’s owner, identified as Budi Hartono, as well as eight of his employees. Budi’s counterfeit factory is located behind the Himajaya Raya pharmaceutical plant, which he also owns. The front of the illegal operation was obscured by a pile of bricks in order to conceal the building’s activities.
“B.H. could produce 600,000 tablets in a day,” Mashudi said of the counterfeit drug factory.
West Java Police chief Insp. Gen. Mochamad Iriawan said that the factory had been operating for two years before the bust.
“We found Calsium Lactate being sold, as well as Carminofein, Voltaren, Arminofein and Somadril Compositum,” Iriawan said as quoted by Tempo. “This is a huge scale production that has been ongoing for two years. We believe that [the counterfeit drugs] were being sold in Bandung and the surrounding region.”
Calcium lactate is used to treat calcium deficiencies, while Carminofein and Somadril Compositum are muscle relaxants. Voltaren is an anti-inflammatory drug, and Ariminofein is an anti-depressant.
Iriawan said that Budi is being charged under Indonesia’s Health Law for counterfeiting drugs, which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail.
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za 25 jan 2014 - 8:45