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n a week-long crackdown code-named the Pangea Operation, the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) confiscated 1,385,440 pieces of illegal drugs, traditional medicines, cosmetics and food consisting of 868 types of items marketed online and worth Rp 7.47 billion (US$647,847).

During the operation, the seventh of its kind, BPOM investigators identified 302 websites that were allegedly distributing the illegal items, leading to a crackdown on 58 distribution facilities.

The Pangea Operation, part of a larger global initiative coordinated by the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) to combat the sale of counterfeit drugs in 110 countries '€” paying especial attention to those marketed for sale online '€” was conducted from May 13 to 20 in 15 Indonesian cities, including Denpasar, Jakarta, Manado, Medan and Surabaya.

The BPOM has observed a steady increase in the online-marketing of counterfeit drugs, cosmetics and food during the operation. According to official data, last year the agency confiscated 721 items, up from 66 in 2012 and 57 in 2011.

'€œWe have requested the Communications and Information Ministry block 302 websites we identified. Of the total, 287 websites have been suspended,'€ BPOM head Roy A. Sparringa said in a press release on Tuesday.

On Monday, the agency destroyed 428 illegal food items and drugs worth Rp 2.4 billion that had been confiscated in operations from 2012 to 2014.

Also on Monday, the BPOM signed an agreement on money-laundering prevention and eradication with the Financial Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (PPATK) to help eliminate the online marketing of fake drugs by tracing bank accounts used for such transactions.

'€œWe'€™re sure that this agreement will constitute a comprehensive effort leading to the arrest of the masterminds behind these crimes,'€ Roy said.

According to the World Health Organization, more than 50 percent of the worldwide circulation of drugs are fake and illegal, with the figures predicted to continue to increase as drugs are distributed via underground sources that are often difficult to detect and identify.

After noticing a spike in illegal drug sales on the internet over the past three years, in January BPOM vowed to take decided action, unveiling plans to begin mapping online drug transactions in the country through its agreement with the PPATK.

The agency found Ponstan, one of the country'€™s most popular painkillers, and erectile dysfunction drugs to be the most counterfeited medication in the country.