Authorities from 15 countries carried out coordinated raids on 12 May against a criminal group suspected of selling fake medicines and supplements online and misleading seriously ill people.
The group, operating since 2019, allegedly marketed more than 400 differently named supplements through companies set up to sell products that were not authorised for sale, Eurojust informed on Thursday.
Hundreds of websites and social media pages were created by a network of “virtual sellers”, often using the names and images of celebrities and fake doctors.
People who filled in online forms were contacted by call-centre operators who posed as doctors or medical specialists and claimed the products were genuine treatments for serious or incurable diseases.
The supplements had no effect on the human body and contained similar ingredients despite being advertised for different illnesses.
The group is suspected of generating at least €240 million in transactions.
Raids in six countries and websites blocked in Romania
The coordinated action day involved searches at 113 locations in Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, Eurojust said.
Evidence was requested from companies in eight countries and 23 witnesses had been interviewed so far.
In Romania, 196 websites used to promote and sell the supplements were blocked.
Large quantities of supplements were seized in Hungary and Romania and will be analysed, while a central warehouse in Bulgaria was identified with further supplies to be examined.
Assets worth €1.8 million were frozen in Poland. Some of the group’s main suspected members were detained in Poland, Romania and Moldova, while investigations are continuing.
Eurojust and Europol supported the investigations, with Europol setting up a Virtual Command Post — a remote coordination hub used during cross-border operations — and deploying experts to assist authorities.
