A 9th grader who knows nothing about pharmacy becomes the director of a large counterfeit drug manufacturing company in Ho Chi Minh City.

Sản xuất thuốc giả quy mô lớn ở TP.HCM, ghi trên vỏ hộp xuất xứ Singapore - Ảnh 1. — The investigation agency served a temporary detention warrant on Ngo Kim Dieu - Photo: CACC

On January 14, the Ho Chi Minh City Police Department initiated a case, prosecuted and temporarily detained Ngo Kim Dieu (41 years old, director of Kingpharm Company Limited), Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong (39 years old, director of Kien Lam Company Limited, Dieu's wife) and 20 others to investigate the crime of "producing and trading in counterfeit medicines and disease prevention drugs".

Sản xuất thuốc giả quy mô lớn ở TP.HCM, ghi trên vỏ hộp xuất xứ Singapore - Ảnh 2. — Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huong (Dieu's wife) and her husband were arrested for producing fake drugs - Photo: CACC

Police determined that the couple Dieu and Huong established and used the above two legal entities as a front to conceal the production and trade of counterfeit oriental medicine combined with various modern medicines.

On December 25, 2024, Ho Chi Minh City Police directed district police and professional units to set up 4 working groups to simultaneously conduct emergency searches at 4 locations that are manufacturing facilities, storing raw materials and finished products of counterfeit drugs.

Sản xuất thuốc giả quy mô lớn ở TP.HCM, ghi trên vỏ hộp xuất xứ Singapore - Ảnh 3. — Dieu and staff packing fake drugs – Photo: CACC

During the search, the police seized 1,164 boxes of finished drugs and raw materials of various types (including 56,255 units of fake drugs, the rest were raw materials or unfinished drugs); 1,600 kg of raw powder used to produce fake drug tablets; 5 machinery systems used to produce fake drugs.

It is worth mentioning that the counterfeit medicine box states the place of manufacture as Singapore or Malaysia.

The police had to mobilize 11 trucks to transport the above mentioned large quantity of fake drugs and raw materials to headquarters.

Investigators determined that Dieu and his wife began producing fake drugs in 2018. Dieu himself only studied until grade 9 and has no expertise in the pharmaceutical industry.

Dieu produced fake drugs by purchasing oriental medicine ingredients and modern pharmaceutical active ingredients, mixing them together, grinding them into powder, and then using a machine to form pills. Most of the employees working for Dieu and his wife were relatives and acquaintances.

Sản xuất thuốc giả quy mô lớn ở TP.HCM, ghi trên vỏ hộp xuất xứ Singapore - Ảnh 4. — Machines for producing fake drugs – Photo: CACC

Sản xuất thuốc giả quy mô lớn ở TP.HCM, ghi trên vỏ hộp xuất xứ Singapore - Ảnh 5. — The defendants were prosecuted in the case – Photo: CACC

Fake drug production worth more than 45 billion VND

According to the investigation agency, in 2024 alone, Dieu and his wife produced fake drugs worth more than 45 billion VND. Do Thanh My (44 years old, living in District 12), Do Thanh Hai (52 years old, living in Binh Chanh District) and Nguyen Mong Dien (37 years old, from Tra Vinh ) alone consumed fake drugs worth nearly 35 billion VND.

Unlike previous cases of counterfeit drug production and trading, Dieu did not counterfeit drug brands circulating in the domestic and foreign markets, but instead created a company name and headquartered in Malaysia and Singapore (which did not exist in reality) to print on the packaging to show the origin of the products.

Dieu said the reason for counterfeiting was to take advantage of consumers' preference for foreign products and make it difficult for buyers and authorities to trace the origin.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nguoi-dan-ong-hoc-lop-9-khong-biet-gi-ve-duoc-lam-giam-doc-cong-ty-san-xuat-thuoc-gia-lon-o-tp-hcm-20250114185553785.htm