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CBA stopped the criminal activity of exporting medicines abroad

The new CBA investigation into the operation of the so-called drug mafia. Five detainees. Within three months, the disrupted criminal group bought and then sold abroad medicines worth about PLN 6.5 million

The officers of the Regional Office of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau in Białystok have detained five members of an organised crime group dealing with illegal transfer of medicines abroad, within the so-called reverse drug distribution chain. The activities have been carried out in the Mazowieckie, Podlaskie and Lubuskie Voivodeships. The detainees were connected with one of the Mazovian companies running a pharmaceutical wholesaler - they are the former president of the company, the members of the current board, and former and current employees. The entity in question was one of the links in the so-called reverse drug distribution chain, through which drugs illegally purchased from pharmacies throughout the country were finally sold outside Poland.

The investigation also established that in order to conceal the true origin of medicines sold outside Poland, they were the subject of a transaction using a buffer company - a medical wholesaler, which simultaneously operated a fictitious medical clinic. At the first stage of the criminal activity, the drugs were bought on the basis of false demands, allegedly for the needs of patients, however, from the outset it was known that they would actually be exported outside Poland.  Subsequently, the purchased medicines were artificially transferred between the clinic and the wholesaler of the medicines in order to dispose of them.

Within three months, the criminal group, disrupted by the CBA Regional Office in Białystok, only in the period from December 2017 to February 2018 bought and then sold abroad medicines worth about PLN 6.5 million. The medicinal products thus transferred instead of to patients went to pharmaceutical wholesalers in order to be exported from Poland.

At the headquarters of the Podlasie Local Division for Organised Crime and Corruption of the National Prosecutor's Office in Białystok, the detainees heard a number of charges, including participation in criminal activities of an organised crime group. The case is in progress.

This is a new investigation conducted by the CBA Regional Office in Białystok concerning the so-called drug mafia.

In another proceeding concerning the illegal export of medicines outside Poland, 18 people have been detained so far. In the course of the case, property worth over PLN 6.8 million was secured.

Public Relations Division of the CBA

  • ©matthiashaas/Photogenica
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