Police in China and South Africa have seized thousands of fake doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, the global police organization Interpol said on Wednesday, warning that it represented only the “tip of the iceberg” in vaccine-related crimes.
The Lyon-based Interpol agency said 400 vials – equivalent to about 2,400 doses – containing the fake vaccine were found in a depot in Germiston outside Johannesburg, South Africa, where officials also recovered fake masks and arrested three Chinese and a Zambian citizen.
In China, police have successfully identified a chain that sells counterfeit vaccines from Covid-19 in an investigation supported by Interpol, which has 194 member countries, she said.
They broke into the manufacturing facilities, resulting in the arrest of about 80 suspects and seized more than 3,000 fake vaccines at the scene, the report said.
Interpol issued an “Orange Warning” earlier this year warning authorities around the world to prepare for organized crime networks targeting Covid-19 vaccines, both physical and online.
“While we welcome this result, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crimes related to the Covid-19 vaccine,” said Interpol Secretary-General Juergen Stock.
Interpol said that in addition to the prisons in South Africa and China, it was also receiving additional reports of the distribution of fake vaccines and fraud attempts against health agencies, such as nursing homes.
He warned that no approved vaccines were available for sale online.
“Any vaccine advertised on websites or on the dark web will not be legitimate, will not have been tested and can be dangerous.”
Stock had warned in December in an interview with the German weekly WirtschaftsWoche about a sharp increase in crime due to the vaccine implantation, with theft and invasion of deposits and attacks on vaccine shipments.