Police in Co Armagh have reiterated warnings for public not to buy medications online and risk the “potentially lethal” consequences.
Officers say they have been inundated with complaints over the past few days about “apparent prescription meds” being offered for sale on local buy and sell pages on Facebook.
The PSNI in Craigavon warned against buying and asked that people report such attempts to sell items like these to Facebook.
“We get these reports every single day, the difference this time being that it was a UK mobile number provided,” police said.
Most of these offers of medications for sale originate overseas and, while police say they frequently share information with other agencies and law enforcement authorities, the best action is to report the post to Facebook.
They also warn that the ‘medications’ offered for sale are NOT prescription but rather “a concoction of goodness knows what” and add: “Prescription meds, if abused, are potentially lethal at the best of times. Cheap imports with some added ingredients are Russian roulette in tablet form.”
There is also the possibility that the sellers could be simply scam artists too, according to police, and you will be parting with money for nothing in return.
The route to go to take action is clear, they say
“Hold the buy and sell sites to account. Message the admins and ensure they block any of these profiles. Also report the post AND the profile to Facebook. They should take action immediately.
“To get a UK number is relatively easy. All you need to do is order a pay as you go sim card. So long as the number is then linked to your Whatsapp and you get wifi connection, you could sit anywhere in the world and appear to have a UK number.
“If of course you have genuine belief someone is selling drugs locally, let us know. That is when you do get to see the videos of doors going in.
“It is frustrating we can’t take firmer action against foreign based scammers and dealers, but prevention is better than cure in this case.”
