Man 'collected discarded drugs and resold them'

A man has been charged with collecting discarded medicines from rubbish sorters and reselling them to unsuspecting customers.

The accused, surnamed Sun, had a network of small recycling centers from where he would get unwanted and out-of-date drugs thrown out by householders, said Baoshan District prosecutors yesterday.

Sun would repackage these and sell them again, according to prosecutors.

He has been charged with producing and selling "fake" medicine.

According to prosecutors, Sun, first came into contact with the "second-hand drugs trade" in his work as an unlicensed medicine wholesaler.

Realizing this offered high profits, Sun began collecting the drugs himself in 2012.

After renting a warehouse in Baoshan, Sun put the word out to individuals and recycling centers that he was looking for dumped and out-of-date drugs and empty medicine bottles, it is claimed.

Then he repackaged the drugs, even printing instructions, said prosecutors.

They were mostly sold to private clinics and unlicensed pharmacies at cheaper than market prices.

On November 14 last year, officers from the Baoshan branch of the city food and drug administration raided Sun's warehouse following a tip-off.

They seized 9,533 units of drugs covering 142 types, plus 721 medicine cases and 1,170 bottles.

Among drugs recovered was Hydrotalcite pills, used to treat inflammation of the stomach lining.

Prosecutors told the public never to give or sell out-of-date drugs to others, but destroy them instead. They also added that taking second-hand drugs could be dangerous.