MPUMALANGA – South African authorities arrested a pharmacy owner and four employees during a Thursday raid in Acornhoek for operating an unlicensed facility dispensing unregulated medicines, including high-risk Schedule 1-6 drugs.
The Hawks’ Mpumalanga Serious Organised Crime unit, health regulator SAHPRA, and local police shuttered the pharmacy after verifying tip-offs about its illicit activities.
Mpumalanga Hawks spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Magonseni Nkosi confirmed 50-year-old owner and four staff members were arrested – two women (35, 44) and two men (35, 48) – failed to produce required qualifications and licenses.
“Employees were found dispensing medicines without certification, while the owner failed to produce a valid operating license or proof of registration with the pharmacy council,” Lt Col Nkosi said.
Scheduled medicines seized during the operation remain under valuation pending forensic analysis.
Mpumalanga Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, Major General Nico Gerber praised the collaboration among law enforcement agencies, emphasising importance of closing the establishment, which has been operating illegally since 2019, to protect public health.
The suspects face charges under the Medical and Related Substances Act and pharmacy licensing regulations.
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