Fake medicine ring using paracetamol broken up in HCM City

HCM City police on April 16 launched criminal proceedings and detained Thai Chanh Kien, born 1968, Ma Du Thai, born 1990, and Van Tat Khang, born 1980, on charges of producing and trading counterfeit medicines.

The investigation began on March 18 when officers stopped a suspect transporting suspicious goods on Au Co Street, discovering multiple traditional medicine products without invoices or documentation.

From this lead, authorities uncovered a network of production and packaging sites operating across several locations within the same residential area.

During searches, investigators seized more than 4,000 boxes of finished products and about 790kg of pills, along with large quantities of packaging materials, labels, shrink wrap and machinery used for mixing and packing. The scale of the haul suggested an organised operation rather than small scale activity.

Police said that since 2021, Thai Chanh Kien had produced traditional medicines at home without registration. By late 2024, after the business proved unprofitable, he allegedly shifted to manufacturing counterfeit drugs, using packaging falsely labelled as originating from Malaysia and Hong Kong, China to mislead consumers.

Kien is believed to have overseen the entire operation, from sourcing raw materials and ordering packaging to organising production and distributing the products. The fake medicines were made by mixing herbal ingredients before being packaged as finished products with counterfeit branding.

Investigators found that some products were mixed with the pain relieving substance paracetamol to form pills, posing potentially serious health risks to users.

To legitimise the products’ appearance, Kien hired Ma Du Thai to design packaging, labels and instructions, and tasked Van Tat Khang with printing them. Authorities said the suspects were fully aware the products were not licensed for circulation but continued production for illegal profit.