02 July 2024 , 13:37
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Antoine Kolias invented new branding and said the medicines were a ‘natural remedy’ for erectile dysfunction
A Manchester University graduate has been jailed for importing and selling illegal medicines on eBay and Amazon.
Antoine Christopher Kolias was sentenced on Friday to three and a half years in prison.
Kolias, 31, had a business management degree from Manchester, Southwark crown court heard.
He was prosecuted after an investigation by the Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s (MHRA) criminal enforcement unit (CEU) found that he had been acting as a distributor for an established unlicensed medicines dealer, as well as running his own unlicensed business.
He had been selling sildenafil citrate, the active ingredient in Viagra, as well as the class C drugs tramadol, zopiclone and pregabalin.
He had sold the products containing sildenafil on Amazon and eBay marketplaces, claiming that they were a “100% natural remedy” and “risk-free” treatment for erectile dysfunction.
Kolias had designed and ordered his own packaging, selling the products under his own brand names: Vital-X, VigoreX and Vowex.
He first came under suspicion when UK Border Force officers intercepted a number of parcels while carrying out routine checks at airports and throughout the postal system.
The MHRA’s criminal enforcement unit, which collects and analyses criminal intelligence to identify illegal activity involving medical products, launched an investigation, codenamed Operation Bentley.
In October 2019, it searched two residential addresses and two storage facilities connected to Kolias in north London and Manchester. In London, CEU officers uncovered 97,000 tablets, which included products marketed as treatments for erectile dysfunction, as well as tramadol and zopiclone.
During a three-week trial in May, the jury heard that after appearing in court, and while he was on bail, Kolias re-established his unlicensed medicines business.
UK Border Force officers intercepted four more parcels, which had been sent from China and contained more than 170,000 doses in total, and had been destined for his sister’s address.
The court heard that Kolias had used a friend’s personal details to re-establish his Amazon sales platform, from which he sold products containing sildenafil citrate, again using his own branding in a product called Evoxa.
Kolias was convicted of 16 counts related to distribution of illegal medicines between the summer of 2018 and October 2019, and between 2020 and 2021. These included being knowingly concerned in the evasion of a prohibition on the import of goods; importing a medicine from a state other than an EEA state; and possession of a class C drug with intent to supply.
After Kolias’ conviction, the MHRA issued a warning about the techniques by which criminals sell medicines illegally online, sometimes using websites designed to mimic legitimate pharmacies or retailers, and sometimes advertising via online marketplaces or social media sites.
“The MHRA advises the public to be careful when buying medicines online. Medicines are not ordinary consumer goods and their sale and supply is tightly controlled,” a spokesperson said.
“Websites operating outside the legal supply chain may seem tempting, for example, offering a prescription medicine without a prescription. Not only are these sites breaking the law, they’re putting your health at risk.”