Kigali: An inter-agency operation carried out this week found “a long list” of medicines which are either not allowed in Rwanda or counterfeits, officials announced Thursday, from an operation conducted in the five East African countries.

The search found a long list of medicines which are not on the national treatment guide – meaning they are not allowed in Rwanda, according to Eric Nyiligira, from CAMERWA, the government drug procurement agency. 

Officials from the Police, health ministry, Rwanda Revenue Authority and CAMERWA made an unannounced visits to health clinics, drug shops and hospitals in Kigali and Rubavu and Rusizi districts.

The operation was done on Monday and Tuesday this week, in all the EAC members with help from the international police agency Interpol. 

Interpol for its part announced today that more than 80 people have been arrested and at least 10 tons of counterfeit and illegal medical products seized as part of the joint police operation in the five EAC nations since July 1.

More than 300 premises were checked or raided in the two-month operation across Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zanzibar, according to a news release from Interpol.

The confiscated loot included anti-malaria drugs, vaccines and antibiotics. There was also a significant quantity of government medicines diverted to illegal resale markets.

In Rwanda, the police and CAMERWA say they found drugs which are eligible for use in Uganda, but not in Rwanda.

In Rubavu district (north), a small drug shop was found to be administering medicines which are not on the national guideline. The owner of the shop was even prescribing medicines to patients from a list of drugs which are not found anywhere in Rwanda, said Nyiligira from CAMERWA. 

The "Operation Mamba III" involved the Lyon, France-based international police organization and a World Health Organization unit and targeted alleged networks of counterfeit drugs makers, traffickers and vendors.

The World Health Organization defines counterfeit drugs as "medicine, which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source."

It was the third such seizure operation in as many years in East Africa, intended to curb the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit medical products.

Representatives of the six nations are scheduled to meet in Zanzibar next week to discuss the seizure and the extent of the counterfeiting problem, Interpol said.