Counterfeit Medicine Distributors Sentenced in the UK

Two Bristol men pleaded guilty in Bristol Crown Court to supplying and distributing counterfeit medication made in China to the UK and Europe.

Graham Dawson, 29, admitted he contacted counterfeit drug producers in China and used Colin Proctor, 29, to send shipments received from China to destinations across the UK and Europe, reported the Bristol Evening Post.

Prosecutor Kate Brunner said Dawson was the point of contact between China and the UK. Undercover agents bought $4,000 worth of drugs that were then tested and found to be fake.

A search of Proctor’s home found $20,000 worth of fake medicine; however Brunner said that as drugs were distributed in smaller amounts, the value of the sales could be four times as much.

Proctor was sentenced to two-years probation and 120 hours of community service.

Said Brunner, “Mr. Proctor was at the bottom end of scale. He was co-opted by somebody else and he did it without asking questions. The value of the drugs was high but the Crown doesn’t put Mr. Proctor’s culpability at that level.”

Dawson’s home was search and records found indicated he received payments of £10,000 payments from China between October 2009 and March 2010.

Dawson’s role was to handle the redistribution of the fake medication after repackaging at Proctor’s home. The counterfeits recovered mimicked anxiety relievers, sleeping disorder and ED medication.

Dawson, called “the mastermind behind the scam” by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, received a 44-week sentence, suspended for two years, two-years probation, 180 hours of community service, a curfew from 8pm to 7am and will be required to wear an electronic tag for six months.

Mike Deats, Head of Enforcement at MHRA, said that the medicines tested did not contain the correct active ingredient and that “those involved in these types of dealings do not care about your health. They are only in it for one reason and that is to make money.”

By S. Imber