Potent pain relievers mixed into thousands of 'traditional herbal medicine' packages

Seeing slow sales of traditional medicine due to its slow effects, Ha Quang Phuoc is accused of mixing various pain-relieving Western drugs to create faster results and attract buyers.

Ha Quang Phuoc and Bui Thi Tiet, 38, were charged three days ago by Hanoi City Police with producing and selling counterfeit medicine.

According to the investigation, in 2024, due to the slow sales of traditional medicine because its effects were not immediate, Phuoc conceived the idea of mixing pharmaceuticals and Western drugs containing pain-relieving ingredients into traditional and ancient remedies to make them act faster.

Phuoc purchased several types of drugs, including Ophazidon (containing paracetamol for pain relief), paracetamol, Dexone, Deltal-Amtex (containing prednisolone), Clorpheniramin, Fruosemide, and Indomethacin. These drugs were ground into a powder, mixed with traditional herbal medicine, and then packaged into nylon bags labeled "thuoc Dong y gia truyen" (traditional herbal medicine).

The suspects and the seized drugs. Photo: Police provided

During his time at the Hoi Thay Thuoc Dong Y (Council of Traditional Medicine Practitioners), Phuoc met Tiet and instructed her on how to produce the medicine. As per their arrangement, Tiet collected herbs from highland residents, dried them, and then ground them into powder.

Phuoc brought the pharmaceuticals and Western drugs to Tiet's house, where they jointly ground them and mixed them in a ratio of 100 grams of traditional medicine with three pills containing pain-relieving ingredients. The two then packaged and labeled the medicine as herbal remedies to sell to patients.

The seized drugs. Photo: Police provided

During a search of Phuoc's residence and workplace, police seized 2,772 packages labeled "Dong y gia truyen," which were advertised as being formulated from "cay bach benh" (a plant believed to cure many diseases) and other southern Vietnamese medicinal plants. Authorities also confiscated numerous bottles and boxes of pharmaceuticals, used drug packaging, and bags of brown powder raw materials.

At Tiet's home, police additionally seized 3,000 packages of "bach benh" traditional herbal medicine, three notebooks detailing sales, labels, packaging bags, a heat sealing machine, a grinding machine, and various types of pharmaceuticals and Western drugs.