Viagra worth £300,000 seized at Newcastle airport

Jan 13 2010 by Adam Jupp, The Journal

A HAUL of the impotency drug Viagra, worth more than £300,000, has been seized by customs officials.

UK Border Agency (UKBA) officers found the haul of 80,000 tablets in a freight load that arrived at Newcastle International Airport.

The blue pills had been disguised as food additives and shipped into the region from Mumbai, India, via London Heathrow.

It is believed the drugs, which had been packed into eight separate crates, may be counterfeit and will now be destroyed to prevent them from reaching the black market.

Fred Simmons, assistant director of the UK Border Agency, said: “Medicines smuggled into the country illegally are often found to be counterfeit and as such pose a huge health risk to the end user.

“Anyone tempted to buy these illegitimate products, whether over the internet or otherwise, should also remember that the gangs smuggling these goods often have links to serious organised crime.

“This haul shows how robust the checks we carry out at Newcastle Airport are. We search for a range of items, including drugs and weapons as well as cigarettes and tobacco, to keep our border secure.”