Customs agents at O’Hare Airport on Tuesday announced the seizure of a massive shipment of “unapproved medications” from China that included erectile dysfunction and weight loss drugs.
The shipment destined for Syracuse, New York, was intercepted by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection team at O’Hare, the agency said in a statement.
It contained 10,412 tablets and 2,144 vials of bogus medications, human growth hormones and steroids, according to the statement. Most alarming, the seizure included “various unapproved medications used to treat serious medical conditions like cancer, thyroid disorders, and breathing illnesses.”
Smugglers tried to sneak the medications into the country using “a master carton smuggling scheme, wherein a single shipment contains many smaller, unmanifested, individual shipments,” customs officials said.
“The illegal importation of unsafe or unregulated prescription drugs like these are known to pose a significant risk to patients and consumers,” said Michael Pfeiffer, the acting director of field operations for CBP’s Chicago office.