Do not buy your prescriptions online: RCMP

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) - The RCMP and the Canadian Border Service Agency are issuing that warning as police try to crack on the sale of fake drugs, which can be deadly. Sergeant Duncan Pound says since late September 2,000 packages were seized in Canada alone, along with 140,000 fake pills.

"Among the counterfeit and illicit medicines, were anti-depressants, sedatives, prescription weight loss products, heart medications, hormone replacement therapies and erectile dysfunction drugs."

CBSA Officer Mark Yee unscrewed an audio-video selector that raised suspicion at their Vancouver International Mail Centre.

"[Inside was] three bags. The first one I opened contained a white powder. It could be Viagra, it could be steroids."

Border guards seized thousands of these kinds of packages during a worldwide crackdown on the online sale and distribution of fake medications in late September. The CBSA'S Heather Ardiel is chief of the Mail Centre.

"Taking prescription medications without proper medical advice may pose serious health risks, and in some cases, even be fatal."

Pound says a 58-year-old BC man has been arrested, linked to the sale of fake drugs like Viagra through a website. He was caught with 6,000 counterfeit erectile dysfunction medications and they've recommended charges to Crown counsel.

Not only are consumers' identities vulnerable through credit card fraud, but a CBSA official says people put their health and even their lives at risk by taking non-prescribed medications.

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Do not buy your prescriptions online: RCMP