COTABATO CITY – Police seized Tuesday more than PHP20,000 worth of fake drugs and cosmetics sold at the city’s public market.
Senior Supt. Rolly Octavio, city police director, said cops raided the bogus drugstore but missed its peddlers.
The raid was conducted after a complaint was lodged at the city police office.
A team from the Cotabato City Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and personnel from the office of the market administrator raided several stalls selling whitening cosmetics and medicine at past 10 a.m.
“These beauty products and medicine, according to the city health office, have no approval permits from the Food and Drug Administration,” Octavio told reporters.
The tricky drugstore owner managed to elude arrest by abandoning his goods as the raiding team was approaching the market area.
Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi said her office had received several complaints from citizens about the proliferation of fake drugs and medicine, including whitening ointment without approval from the FDA.
“I am warning you. Stop it because we will not tolerate it in the city,” Guiani-Sayadi said, adding that fake product distributors will “face the full force of the law”.
She also advised the public not to patronize medicine and beauty products sold at sidewalk stalls, citing their potential negative effects on humans. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
