SEATTLE, WA – We want to believe that what we purchase on the internet can’t hurt us. We want to trust that the items we purchase from online merchants will be legitimate, that they will come to us in the condition we expect, and that they will be safe. We want to believe that the flea medication we order for our pets isn’t fake, or that the vitamins we just paid for contain what we expect. That unfortunately is not the case, as the World Health Organization estimates that 10% of medicines available globally are likely counterfeit, with up to 30% being counterfeit in some areas of Asia, Africa and Latin America.

This is why G2 Web Services was quick to team up with Operation Pangea VII, the largest-ever global operation targeting counterfeit medications. Coordinated by INTERPOL, Pangea VII brought together nearly 200 enforcement agencies across 111 countries with the sole goal of shutting down the sites that sell these bad medications. The efforts of this cooperation with companies like MasterCard, Microsoft, PayPal and Visa led to:

– 9.4 million fake and illicit medicines seized, including slimming pills, cancer medication, erectile dysfunction pills, cough and cold medication, anti-malarial, cholesterol medication and nutritional products
– Seizures worth nearly $36 million
– 239 arrests
– 1,235 investigations launched
– 19,000 adverts for illicit pharmaceuticals removed from social media platforms
– More than 10,600 websites shut down

“The reality of this crime is that people lose their lives by consuming fake medicines or taking the wrong dosage,” said Keith Groves, G2’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships & Client Management. “By being involved in Pangea we have helped some of those people hopefully get the correct treatment and live long and healthy lives.”

While the internet may still have some bad things on it, we here at G2 are very happy to have been part of something that has made this much of an impact on the bad stuff out there. Through coordination and teamwork, these 200 agencies were able to truly make a difference.