Fake Viagra (archives)
Photo courtesy of Pharmaceutical Crime Unit, Health Ministry
Viagra smuggling foiled during fly-in
While hundreds of police officer wait for pro-Palestinian activists at Ben-Gurion Airport, Woman arriving from China arrested with 50,000 fake pills
Hundreds of police officers have been stationed at Ben-Gurion Airport since Thursday in a bid to arrest pro-Palestinian activists
flying in, and yet a gang of Viagra smugglers from northern Israel
chose that exact time to bring in some 50,000 fake Viagra pills from China.
Six of the gang members were arrested. Their remand was extended by five days at the Petah Tikva Magistrate's Court on Friday.
- Receive Ynetnews updates
directly to your desktop
It's unclear why the gang members decided to import the fake pills on a day when the airport was "flooded" with hundreds of police officers waiting for the fly-in activists.
In addition, the police's economic unit and the Tax Authority have been collecting intelligence on the gang members for quite a while now.
According to the information, the gang members are residents of northern Israel in their 30s who have been importing fake Viagra pills from China. The erectile-dysfunction drug is only sold with a medical prescription, but the group found a cheap way to "assist" men through the black market.
According to suspicions, they contacted manufacturers in China and imported large amounts of Viagra pills. The police received information that another delivery was expected to arrive in Israel this weekend, but were certain that in light of the high alert at the airport, the gang members would cancel or postpone the delivery.
Surprisingly enough, a young woman in her 20s arrived from China with a suitcase on Thursday night. Customs officers and detective of the police's economic unit searched the bag and found 50,000 fake Viagra pills.
Shortly afterwards, the other gang members were arrested in their homes, where the police found a additional 50,000 pills.
- Follow Ynetnews on Facebook
