Sex enhancement drugs confiscated

Caption 1:  Pictures of the SEPs displayed to the media.

 

Caption 2:  Online Facebook group Local Market- PNG used to post the sale of SEPs.

By MATTHEW VARI

Sunday, January 31, 2016 (Sunday Chronicle, PNG)

THE Censorship Office in collaboration with PNG Customs and police seized various Sex Enhancement Products (SEPs) earlier this month (January 12).

In a press conference hosted on Monday, Deputy Chief Censor Jim Abani, outlined the reasons behind the raid following online posts on Facebook online market group, Local Market- PNG.

The censorship office took notice following posts on the popular social network online market page of SEPs being on sale freely to the general public.

“It was a joint operation that saw three agencies taking part in the raid which started from someone posting on PNG Local Market on social media,” Mr Abani said.

“It was tracked by our officers and as soon as the tracking was done from there we had to get other stakeholders involved, in terms of carrying out these operations.”

“What happened was that an individual posted on social media telling the public that he was selling some sex enhancement products. Sex enhancement products are prescribed are all sorts of capsules that are made for the purpose of sex.”

A total of three locations, all belonging to individual from Philipines origins, were under surveillance and raided- resulting in a number of items confiscated during the raid.

“For your information, the items confiscated from the shops, as follows there were 371 SEPs. During the process of confiscating those items they came across a personal laptop and a notebook device, which were confiscated and contained pornographic material.”

“Apart from the SEPs those two devices contained pornographic material, they are being investigated and reports will be compiled and given to the chief to verify the reports.”

“During that time we also have to ask our counterparts at the health department who played a role in confirming whether those SEPs are allowed in the country or not.”

He added that due to the nature of the products- they consulted the Pharmaceutical Board to verify if the products were allowed in the country.

“As I speak according to them all those items that were confiscated were all prohibited items in the country which they have confirmed according to their laws and regulations, anything of such must be approved by the authorities, the health department and all must be released according to it,” he said.

“We found out that people have been selling on the streets and have been displaying at that particular shop are all prohibited, that may lead to side effects and all sorts of problems that both male and female may encounter in the future after using it.”

Local Market PNG currently has a membership base of 43,000 Facebook members in the country. Prices of the products varied from K500 to K20 for individual capsules.

Investigations are still underway.