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Detective police have arrested seven people on charges of making counterfeit versions of medicines typically used to treat different diseases, including COVID-19 and cancer.
The fake drugs were made in a factory Dhaka's Demra and then distributed across the country through a courier service, according to Additional Commissioner AKM Hafiz Akter.
People were duped into buying the knockoff drugs at a high price as it is quite difficult to differentiate them from the authentic ones, he said at a media briefing on Friday.
The arrestees are Tariqul Islam, Syed Ali Mamun, Saidul Islam, Monowar, Abdul Latif, Nazmul Dhali and Sagar Ahmed Milon.
Police arrested them following the raids in different parts of Dhaka and seized a large haul of the counterfeit versions of local and international drugs along with the machinery used to make them.
The gang has been in the business of producing fake drugs for a long time, said Hafiz.
“Tariqul is the leader of the gang. He led the fake drug-making business with his henchmen Mamun and Saidul in a factory in Demra.”
Monowar and Latif used to supply foil paper to wrap the fake tablets and cylinders to keep the other medicines, reports bdnews24.com.
Nazmul ran a printing press in Fakirapul, where all the packaging, coating and labelling would be done.
The two other accomplices, Makhon and Zakir, would deliver the drugs to Imran in the Mitford Hospital area, who in turn used to market the fake medicines. From the local markets, the counterfeit drugs were distributed across the country through a courier service.
Police are yet to nab Makhon and Zakir.