(LINA) – The Liberia Drug Enforcement Agency (LDEA) in collaboration with the Liberia Medical and Health Regulatory Authority (LMHRA) has arrested counterfeit medical drugs worth US$15,000.According to the LDEA General Director, Marcus Soko, the counterfeit medical drugs were arrested after a search warrant was issued by the Court to search the residence of the suspects in Barclayville outside Monrovia.
Director Soko made the disclosure Thursday at a press conference at the LDEA head Office in Fiamah, a suburb of Monrovia.
He pointed out that the two suspects, Mr. Sanno Doe and Mrs. Janet Doe will be forwarded to court for prosecution, in keeping with law.
Mr. Soko noted that counterfeit medical drugs are creating serious health problems among children across the country, and stressed the need for Liberia’s Drug Laws to be made stronger to prevent people bringing into the country counterfeit medical drugs from neighboring countries.
According to him, the suspects will be investigated further to ascertain who their suppliers are and whether the transaction was done through the banking system.
He admonished the public to assist the joint security with the relevant information about counterfeit drugs in the various communities across the nation.
Meanwhile, the Coordinator of Post Market Surveillance at the Liberia Medical and Health Regulatory Authority (LMHRA), Paul Higging, has said the medications arrested by the LDEA were counterfeit.
Coordinator Higging alleged that most of the counterfeit medical drugs come from Guinea through cross-border trade.
He indicated that LMHRA staff has been trained to determine counterfeit medical drugs without going through scientific examination of the drugs and urged Liberians to desist from buying medications from the street and non-recognized pharmacies around the country.
For his part, suspect Sanno Doe insisted that the medical drugs are not counterfeit, as the LDEA and LMHRA authorities claimed.
Doe stated that medical drugs were supplied to him by a lady identified as Mama Yamah from Guinea.
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