French customs seize counterfeit Viagra and Cialis

Published: 8-Jan-2008

Customs services in France have seized 56,000 boxes of counterfeit Viagra (Pfizer's sildenafil) and Cialis (Lilly's tadalafil) worth an estimated Euro 2.4m.


Customs services in France have seized 56,000 boxes of counterfeit Viagra (Pfizer's sildenafil) and Cialis (Lilly's tadalafil) worth an estimated Euro 2.4m.

The seizure was made on 18 December by customs officials at Roissy airport outside Paris, when they checked a shipment flown in from India, said French budget minister Eric Woerth. According to the customs service the boxes were headed for Brazil.

Customs officials seized 20,000 boxes of Powergra, a counterfeit Viagra, and 36,000 boxes of Erectalis, a counterfeit Cialis, with each box containing four tablets identical in shape and colour to the original. Pfizer and Lilly "rapidly confirmed the counterfeit nature of these products" and that 224,000 tablets were seized.

A customs spokesperson said customs services regularly intercept counterfeit Viagra, though generally in smaller quantities. In May 2007, the customs service seized almost 50,000 boxes containing some 200,000 tablets of fake Viagra with an estimated value of €3m.

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