WATCH | Joburg pharmacy shut for illegal medicine distribution

A Joburg pharmacy has been shut, and its stock confiscated, after authorities found it was distributing medication illegally and possibly providing some of it to drug addicts.

The Lele Quang pharmacy in Orange Grove was raided on Wednesday morning by Johannesburg metro police, together with officials from the SA Health Products Regulatory Authority (Sahpra) and the city’s tactical reaction unit.

Joburg MMC for public safety Dr Mgcini Tshwaku said the bust followed a tip-off from Sahpra inspectors.

“We suspect that the people who are buying this medicine on a daily basis are individuals who are mixing it with Sprite. We think this place is supplying addicts,” he said.

“This operation is the result of the raid we did at a hijacked house in Houghton, where we confiscated illegal medicine. Through the intelligence gathering, we managed to locate this pharmacy, which is supplying and distributing medicine illegally.”

During the operation, the team was told the owner had last been seen in October and would only return to the premises to collect cash. Tshwaku said when the owner was contacted, she refused to come to the site, saying she was too far away.

There are so many rogue pharmacists out there...[they] must know we are going to come after them, take the whole stock and arrest them.

—   Joburg MMC for public safety Dr Mgcini Tshwaku

Inside the pharmacy they found someone dispensing medication who claimed to be the pharmacist’s assistant

A Sahpra official said the assistant was registered, but his registration was not active because he had not paid his fees.

“He is dispensing the medication without a responsible pharmacist being present, so he is operating outside his code of practice, which is illegal,” the official said.

Authorities found boxes of medicine labelled with a different pharmacy’s name, although the address matched the Orange Grove location. They said using a different name to acquire medication was fraud.

Various prescription-only medicines — including weight-loss drugs, sleeping tablets and certain pain medications — are believed to have been sold illegally by the pharmacy, and Tshwaku said a criminal case would be opened against the owner.

“All this medicine here is going to be taken away, and the owner must contact the Johannesburg metro police department, public safety or Sahpra or the Norwood police station. This is a contravention of the Sahpra Act, so this is a criminal offence.”

He added that the city had received additional tip-offs about other pharmacies allegedly involved in illegal distribution.

“We don’t have a problem with exporting medicine, but it must be exported through the right channels. What is happening here is that they are distributing it by putting it in cross-border buses.”

“There are so many rogue pharmacists out there, and we are still busy doing our map. We know in Hillbrow and Yeoville there are quite a number of them. People must know we are going to come after them, take the whole stock and arrest them.”

Sowetan