Police seize almost 250,000 illegal tablets set for NI addresses

Almost 250,000 illegal and unlicensed tablets that were due to be sent to addresses throughout Northern Ireland have been seized.

The drugs were bought online but were intercepted as part of a global police action code-named Operation Pangea.

The tablets were seized during "a specific week of action" in June, the Department of Justice said.

In total, the medications had an estimated street value of almost £250,000.

Among the haul of more than 242,000 tablets were diazepam, used to treat anxiety; pregabalin, used to medicate epilepsy and anxiety; and the breast cancer drug tamoxifen.

Inhalers used to treat asthma were also among the seized items.

Operation Pangea is co-ordinated by Interpol but the local seizures were the result of a joint effort from the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Border Force and officials from the Department of Health Medicines Regulatory Group.

ACC Mark McEwan, from the PSNI, warned that unregulated drugs "are often produced in illicit, unhygienic laboratories, and are made to look like the genuine product". 

"On their own or in any combination these drugs are incredibly dangerous to take," he said.

"By working with our partners in the Organised Crime Task Force (OCTF), this operation has removed a significant amount of incredibly harmful counterfeit and unlawful prescription from our communities."

Justice Minister Naomi Long said "lives have no doubt been saved" as a result of the seizure while Health Minister Robin Swann warned anyone thinking of buying medication from illegal sources that they cannot know "where the tablets have originated or what they really contain".