A 31-year-old individual named Antoine Christopher Kolias, who holds a business management degree from Manchester University, has been sentenced to three and a half years in prison for importing and selling illegal medicines on eBay and Amazon. The sentencing took place on Friday.
Kolias was found to have been acting as a distributor for an established unlicensed medicines dealer, in addition to operating his own unlicensed business. The investigation by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) criminal enforcement unit (CEU) revealed that he was selling sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra, as well as the class C drugs tramadol, zopiclone, and pregabalin.
The products containing sildenafil were marketed and sold on Amazon and eBay marketplaces as a “100% natural remedy” and “risk-free” treatment for erectile dysfunction. Kolias had designed and ordered his own packaging, selling the products under his own brand names: Vital-X, VigoreX, and Vowex.
UK Border Force officers initially suspected Kolias when they intercepted several parcels during routine checks at airports and through the postal system. An investigation, codenamed Operation Bentley, was launched by the MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, leading to the search of two residential addresses and two storage facilities connected to Kolias in north London and Manchester. In London, officers uncovered 97,000 tablets, which included products marketed as treatments for erectile dysfunction, as well as tramadol and zopiclone.
During his trial, the jury heard that Kolias had re-established his unlicensed medicines business even after being arrested and while he was on bail. UK Border Force officers intercepted four more parcels, containing over 170,000 doses in total and destined for his sister’s address, following which Kolias was convicted of 16 counts related to the distribution of illegal medicines.
After the conviction, the MHRA issued a warning about the techniques used by criminals to sell medicines illegally online, which sometimes involve websites designed to mimic legitimate pharmacies or retailers, and sometimes advertising via online marketplaces or social media sites. The MHRA advises the public to be careful when buying medicines online, as such websites may pose a risk to health.
