CHIANG RAI – Police and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have seized unlicensed diet pills and food supplements during a raid in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai province on Sunday.
Police and FDA officials raided two spots near the Thai-Myanmar border finding large quantities of unlicensed diet pills and food supplements, as well as illegal consumer products, in Mae Sai district of Chiang Rai on Sunday.
Police and (FDA) officials jointly searched a building in tambon Mae Sai and found at least 50 sacks of illegally-produced diet pills and food supplements.
The products contained sibutramine, a substance which has been linked to increased risk of hearts attacks and strokes, according to Deputy national police chief Wirachai Songmetta.
The pills and food supplements were also impounded and the owner of the building and the renter were taken in for police questioning.
Sibutramine, has been banned in Thailand, users of products containing it face a jail term up to three years and/or a fine up to 60,000 baht.
Producers, importers or exporters of the products containing the substance will face a jail term of 5-20 years and a fine from 500,000 to 2 million baht.
The FDA authorities also searched the office of a courier company in Wiang Phang Kham district where they seized household products, including mosquito repellent coils, that were manufactured without FDA permission.
