Counterfeit Viagra from China prompts warnings in India

New Delhi - After China's toxic toys and jewellery worried authorities in the United States, made-in-China counterfeit Viagra has rattled police in India's financial capital of Mumbai, a newspaper reported Monday. The pills have police officers worried because they were 'highly hazardous' yet easily available, the English-language Hindustan Times newspaper said. Last week, the police busted a counterfeit Viagra racket in the city and seized 25,000 pills worth 4.5 million rupees (109,439 dollars) in the Dongri area. 'It's absolutely hazardous and unfit for consumption,' Rakesh Maria, the city's joint commissioner of police, was quoted by the newspaper as saying. Maria said consignments of the spurious pills were shipped to India from China and cleared customs because they were labelled as medicines. After the consignment reached Mumbai, it was taken to packaging units where the pills were sealed in small plastic bottles containing 30 pills each. Labels of reputed Indian drug companies were attached to the bottles to make them look authentic. Scientists who studied samples of the pills confirmed that the chemicals in them were much higher than the prescribed limit. Although the original Viagra comes in 50-milligram tablets, the counterfeits are 100 milligrams. 'Possibly, it was meant to convey that the duplicates were more potent than the originals,' senior police officer Ramesh Mahale, told the daily. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur