T

he National Police’s Criminal Investigation Department is conducting an investigation to unravel what it has called “nationwide counterfeit vaccine production and distribution”.

The investigation was given new legs after the latest arrest of three suspects in Subang, West Java, on Thursday.

The department’s director for special economic crimes, Brig. Gen. Agung Setya, said on Thursday that the police had detected counterfeit vaccine production and distribution in three provinces, namely West Java, Jakarta and Banten, as a result of several crackdowns in those regions.

“These illicit activities have been going on since 2003 in those three regions and are likely to have been happening in many other regions in the country,” Agung told a press conference at the National Police headquarters in South Jakarta.

Investigators have arrested 13 suspects, who reportedly include eight fake vaccine plant owners, two distributors, two couriers and one label maker of counterfeit vaccines during raids in Bekasi, South Tangerang, Jakarta, Bogor and Subang that took place between June 16 and June 23.

Agung said investigators had collected data on distributors that sold vaccines in those regions, from which they could determine which stores were selling illegal vaccines. On June 16, they arrested one of them in Bekasi, from whom investigators obtained information regarding the couriers and the vaccine factory owners.

This was then followed by arrests of a drugstore owner in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta, two couriers in Bekasi and eight plant owners in South Tangerang, Bekasi, Bogor and Subang.

“All of the arrested vaccine plant owners have used the same trick to produce fake vaccines, by mixing gentamicin, which is an antibiotic, with intravenous fluids and packing the products in bottles and boxes similar to the real vaccine,” Agung explained.

During the crackdowns, investigators confiscated five types of vaccines, including 195 sachets of Hepatitis B vaccine, 221 bottles of pediacel vaccine, 364 bottles of measles vaccine, 81 sachets of polio vaccine and 55 sachets of snake antivenom.

“It could be dangerous for children’s safety, because vaccines for Hepatitis B, measles and polio are usually given to children at an early age. We will get in touch with the Health Ministry in order to determine whether or not there are people who have been victims of these counterfeit vaccines,” Agung said.

Food and Drug Control Agency head, Bahdar Hamid, acknowledged that counterfeit vaccine production and distribution were “perennial” problems hampering health services in the country.

“We have detected these practices and arrested perpetrators before the recent raids by the police. However, there are also new players taking part in these illicit activities,” Bahdar told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on Thursday.

He claimed that several clinics and private hospitals located near the locations raided by police were “clients of fake vaccine distributors”, but did not give any names.

“Those clinics and hospitals are prone to accepting counterfeit vaccines due to their lower price compared to the real vaccines,” Bahdar explained.

He added that steps were already being taken to eradicate the production and distribution of fake vaccines, including teaming up with the police in a memorandum of understanding signed on Feb. 4, through which they can assist information from each other regarding counterfeit activities. (mos)