The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) destroyed on Tuesday a large amount of unregistered drugs, chemically tainted medicines, expired drugs and illegal food and cosmetics worth Rp 4 billion (US$344,917) seized during market operations in October.

The destroyed good comprised 882,845 items consisting 3,704 different products.

BPOM investigators raided 196 facilities, comprising manufacturing sites, importer/distributor offices, pharmacies, supermarkets, drug stores, warehouses, clinics and kiosks, in the two-day operation, which took place on Oct. 22 and 23.

'€œFrom the results of the investigation into the 196 facilities, it was found that almost 70 percent of the products at the sites were illegal products,'€ the BPOM said in a statement made available to The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

The products destroyed included 56,174 prescription drugs consisting of 696 different items; 1,059 pieces of unregistered drugs covering 10 different types; 5,564 pieces of expired drugs consisting of nine different types; 152 items of traditional medicines containing chemical substances (16,241 pieces); and 956 types of unregistered traditional medicines (340,690 pieces).

Other products destroyed were 612 items of chemically-tainted cosmetics comprising 57 different products; 1,439 unregistered cosmetics (117,397 pieces); 353 food products lacking distribution permits (200,402 items); 144,518 food items containing hazardous substances consisting of 20 different types of products; and 12 types of expired food (183 items).

On Tuesday, the BPOM also destroyed Rp 3 billion worth of traditional medicines containing chemical substances.

The agency crushed the products as a follow up to post-market surveillance in Banten, in April, during which it named a suspect, identified only by the initials APN.

The products destroyed included 1.2 million pieces of illegal and chemically-tainted traditional medicines consisting of eight different items and two types (263,000 pieces) of prescription drugs '€“ such as Phenylbutazone and Afitazone '€“ that were used in traditional medicines.

APN was charged under the 2009 Health Law. '€œThe suspect'€™s case dossier has been handed over to the prosecutor'€™s office,'€ said BPOM. (ebf)

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