Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Friday, August 8, nabbed a 47-year-old man accused of selling counterfeit medicine within Hurlingham in Nairobi County.
According to a statement by DCI, sleuths based in Kilimani accompanied by Pharmacy and Poisons board officers apprehended Peter Cummings Thatia following a tip-off from members of the public.
Among items recovered from the suspect included; counterfeit ViagraPro capsules, two polythene bags containing a white powdery substance, a capsule filler machine and advertising fliers.
A vehicle he was driving, a Nissan Note, was also seized by the detectives.
Cummings will be arraigned for the offense of unlawfully manufacturing and selling counterfeit medicines contrary to The Anti-Counterfeit Act No. 13 of 2008.
According to the act, it is considered an offence if one is found to be in possession of, manufacturing or selling of any counterfeit goods.
If found guilty, he could face imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or to an unsubstanntiated fine, in respect of each article or item involved or both.
The arrest came months after a recent research uncovered how pharmacies in Nairobi were selling counterfeited amoxicillin tablets.
The antibiotic Amoxicillin is the most commonly stocked drug in pharmacies and the World Health Organisation recommended it as an essential medicine with lower potential for resistance.
The antibiotic was used to treat a wide range of common bacterial infections from pneumonia, ulcers to ear infections, bladder infections and Gonorrhoea.
The research by BioMed Research International ascertained that over 30 per cent of the antibiotics stored in Nairobi pharmacies was imported from India and China as retailers opted against selling the locally manufactured antibiotic.
