"Traditional medicines were found to have been mixed with chemical drug materials. After investigations, there were indications that the chemical drug material had come from a (legal) pharmaceutical industry," BPOM Chairman Roy Alexander Sparringa told a press conference here on Monday.
Police said earlier that certain elements in the pharmaceutical sector were suspected to be dealing in illegal drugs following investigations into a 2013 case.
The head of the International Crime Affairs of the National Police Headquarters, Senior Commissioner Puji Sarwono, said the producers of the traditional medicines had obtained chemical drug materials from a supplier in East Java. The illegal chemical drug materials were phenylbutazone, dexamethasone and paracetamol.
"In 2013, we launched an operation against a producer of illegal traditional medicines in Tangerang (Banten). We found 166 thousand tablets with phenylbutazone, dexamethasone and paracetamol as ingredients. After we studied them, we received information that the materials were supplied by a pharmaceutical unit in East Java. We investigated the matter for nine months and found the factory involved," said Puji.
However, the police officer refused to reveal the identity of the pharmaceutical industry on the ground that the case was still under investigation.
In the meantime, Roy explained that the pharmaceutical factory produced and kept its illegal products in warehouses that were also illegal. "It is a legal industry but its storage facilities or warehouses are illegal," Roy stated.
These illegal drugs were distributed to the market through big pharmacy traders using forged documents. They were also distributed to producers of illegal traditional medicines.
Traditional medicines mixed with chemical drugs have a serious impact on health, such as in case of ulcers and body inflammation, in the short term. Long-term impact could be in case of blood, liver and kidney diseases.
In cooperation with other agencies, the BPOM confiscated more than three million illegal and dangerous cosmetics, drugs and traditional medicine products.
"There are 4,441 items or 3,172,937 pieces worth a commercial value of Rp49.8 billion," Roy informed.
These were found during an operation conducted across the country between February and March, 2016.
Authorities also found that 174 of the 250 warehouses inspected were illegal.
A total of 52 cases, or about 29.89 percent of the total cases, were launched.(wdy)
