They made an 11 million windfall by selling cancer drugs! Uzbek drug gang's correspondence on 12punto

It has been revealed that cancer drugs, with prices ranging from 54,000 TL to 223,000 TL, were being sold on the black market by an Uzbek gang at a pharmacy in Bursa. According to the news reached by 12punto, the gang was dismantled in an operation by law enforcement after the pharmacist, Z.D.Ş., noticed the situation. A total of 4 suspects, three of whom are Uzbek citizens and one a Turkish citizen, have been arrested.

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They made an 11 million windfall by selling cancer drugs! Uzbek drug gang's correspondence on 12punto

Hazal Güven - 12punto.com.tr

International drug gangs continue to make illicit profits by selling drugs on the black market via Turkey.

12punto has uncovered that H.A., a Turkish citizen working at a pharmacy in Bursa, stole approximately 150 boxes of drugs, mostly cancer medication, in an unregistered manner and sold them to an Uzbek gang over several months.

Pharmacist Z.D.Ş. realized that a total of approximately 11 million TL worth of drugs had been removed from her pharmacy before she discovered the incident.

It was learned that H.A., who started working at the pharmacy owned by Z.D.Ş. in Bursa last May, stole a large number of drugs, primarily cancer medications in the smart drug group, from that date until October, and provided these drugs to an Uzbek gang to generate illicit profit.

DRUG BLACK MARKET STRETCHING FROM A TURKISH CITIZEN TO AN UZBEK GANG

According to information reached by 12punto, the individual named H.A. first gave a large number of drugs, with values ranging from 54,000 TL to 223,000 TL, to an Uzbek national named Mırlan Mırtoraev.

Mırtoraev, who acted as the courier for the drugs, earned at least 20,000 TL for each courier operation.

Mırtoraev delivered the drugs to Alıyar Saparov in Istanbul. The drugs then went from Saparov to Davron Yusupaliev, also an Uzbek national, who is understood to be the organizer of the gang. Yusupaliev then organized the sale of these drugs both domestically and abroad.

*From the appeal petition prepared for the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office

The period when this scandalous event became visible was August. During that time, because pharmacist Z.D.Ş. had both lost her mother and suffered a serious traffic accident, she could not be present at the pharmacy often, which meant an opportunity for H.A., the pharmacy technician who started in May, and the Uzbek drug gang he was connected to.

H.A. took advantage of the void in the pharmacy environment starting from this past August to carry out what could be called a 'major windfall'.

Pharmacist Z.D.Ş. explains it as follows:

“When we reached August, we saw that purchases were high, but sales turnover was lower. When such a deficit occurred, I started looking for the source. In the meantime, I lost my mother and had a serious traffic accident. We understand that the individual took advantage of these gaps a bit. In August, I thought the difference arising from the purchase balance would come from the pharmaceutical companies. I was expecting a significant amount of money, around 2 million lira. I spoke with the manager friend in the warehouse. I said, 'There is such a deficit. I will take out a loan.' He replied, 'You shouldn't have a deficit, what loan?' When that happened, my attention focused inside the pharmacy. I did the August breakdown, and everything came to light.”

MAJOR WINDFALL FROM CANCER DRUGS!

It was revealed that H.A., who smuggled drugs out of the pharmacy and gave them to the Uzbek gang, communicated with gang members via the Telegram application.

The gang's last major windfall occurred in October involving a smart cancer drug called Tagrisso.

Pharmacy technician H.A. smuggled 17 boxes of Tagrisso out of the pharmacy and gave them to the Uzbek gang. A portion of the 17 boxes of drugs were worth 160,000 TL per box. Later, due to a price hike on the drug in October, the price of Tagrisso rose to 198,000 TL. Pharmacist Z.D.Ş. explained with the following statements:

“They made their last big windfall on the smart cancer drug called Tagrisso. Today, the entry price of this drug to the pharmacy is 198,500 TL. The retail sale price is 223,884 TL. They wrote, 'We will take Tagrisso even if it's 100.' They were concerned with making a huge windfall with few items. Then, the employee working with us was going to flee anyway.”

The drug called Tagrisso is known to be used in the treatment of lung cancer. The drug's prospectus includes the following statements:

“TAGRISSO contains the active substance osimertinib, which belongs to the protein kinase inhibitor class of anticancer drugs. TAGRISSO is used in the treatment of adults with a type of lung cancer called 'non-small cell lung cancer' in the following situations: If your cancer is in an advanced stage and is worsening despite previous treatments that may have included a drug that helps block 'EGFR' (epidermal growth factor receptor), and if your 'T790M mutation' test is positive.”

THEY DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS A CRIME!

Pharmacist Z.D.Ş., who is going through difficult days due to the victimization she experienced, stated, “There is drug smuggling here. These are drugs of vital importance. These are serious drugs sold by prescription. Where are these drugs going? Perhaps they are serving a terrorist organization.”

Following the revelation of the incident, a total of 4 people, 3 of whom are Uzbek citizens and 1 a Turkish citizen, were arrested. In their statements, the suspects accepted the accusations against them and said, “We didn't know this was a crime.”

The investigation initiated by the Bursa Chief Public Prosecutor's Office regarding the incident is ongoing.

Some of the drugs subject to the news and their current prices are as follows:

Alecensa: Alecensa, with the active ingredient alectinib, is a small-molecule cancer drug developed as an ALK inhibitor used in the treatment of ALK-positive metastatic non-small cell lung cancer. It is used in patients with an ALK mutation and aims to slow tumor growth.

Price: 92,400 TL

Valamor: Valamor is a new-generation cancer drug from the CDK4/6 inhibitor class used to treat patients with hormone receptor-positive, advanced (stage 4) breast cancer. These drugs are used in combination with an aromatase inhibitor (such as letrozole) or an estrogen receptor blocker (such as fulvestrant).

Price: 54,722 TL

Tagrisso: TAGRISSO is used in the treatment of adults with a type of lung cancer called 'non-small cell lung cancer' when the tumor has a defect (mutation) in a gene called EGFR (epidermal growth factor receptor).

Price: 223,884 TL

News Source: 12punto