Police in northern Vietnam bust two large-scale counterfeit health supplement production rings

Lieutenant Colonel Cao Viet Hai, head of the economic police division of the provincial Department of Public Security, confirmed that Fusi Pharma Co., Ltd. had signed contracts to manufacture 14 counterfeit health supplement products for Thao Nguyen Xanh Group Company.

The investigation began in July 2025, when investigators filed criminal charges against three individuals for falsifying documents and using fake licenses in Vinh Tuong Commune.

The local investigators seized 31 types of health supplement products from Thao Nguyen Xanh Group, totaling over 716,000 film-coated tablets, 1,806 liters of liquid supplements, and 31.7 kilograms of powdered products.

For the expanded probe, police decided to detain and initiate criminal proceedings against Duong Hung Thinh, 52, director of Fusi, on August 1 for producing and trading counterfeit food products.

Between November 2020 and June 2025, Fusi cut deals to manufacture 37 types of health supplements for Thao Nguyen Xanh Group.

Lab analysis later confirmed that 14 of these were fake, with a total value exceeding VND875 million (US$33,350).

Besides, police also discovered that Fusi had partnered with various other companies, manufacturing products worth a total of VND137 billion ($5.2 million).

In a related crackdown, Phu Tho police uncovered another counterfeit production ring linked to Santex Pharmaceutical JSC, based in the Thanh Oai Industrial Cluster in Hanoi.

Six individuals were prosecuted, including Le Van Hieu, director of Santex, and Do Van Cuong, director of RQPHAR Viet Herbal Co., Ltd., for producing and distributing prohibited goods and forging official documents.

The illicit operations took place in the province and other neighboring localities.

Police have so far confiscated over 11 million counterfeit functional supplement pills and nearly 77,000 liters of liquid supplements in this case.

Investigations revealed that since 2018, Hieu, Cuong, and their accomplices had manufactured and distributed dozens of millions of counterfeit supplements and health products, reaping illicit profits estimated in the thousands of billions of Vietnamese dong, equivalent to hundreds of millions of dollars.

According to Lieutenant Colonel Hai, these individuals exploited licensed production facilities, designing product packaging and labels that listed high-value ingredients and claimed exaggerated health benefits.

They then acquired forged documents and submitted fake applications to state regulatory agencies to obtain mass production licenses.

In reality, the products did not contain the advertised ingredients or meet published quality standards, but were then marketed and sold at low prices.

Major General Nguyen Minh Tuan, director of the Phu Tho Department of Public Security, emphasized that the factories involved in the two cases were large-scale and fully equipped ones located in industrial zones in Hanoi.

"Santex alone produced and processed products for more than 200 pharmaceutical companies," he said.

"We seized several metric tons of products from the facility."

The investigation is ongoing, and efforts are underway to locate and recall these fake health supplements.