Pharmacies in Tulum and Cancun shut down for selling fake pills

In the popular Mexican tourist destinations of Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, many pharmacies were shut down for allegedly selling harmful counterfeit medications, especially to foreign visitors without prescriptions.

The raid, named “Operation Albatross” by Mexican officials, followed a number of investigations that revealed banned substances in tablets being sold in different parts of the nation as Oxycodone, Percocet, and Adderall.

These substances were discovered in tablets marketed in the state of Quintana Roo, which is home to Cancun, Playa del Carmen, and Tulum, according to a June VICE News investigation with drug testing company Bunk Police.

The Mexican Navy and the Federal Commission for the Protection Against Sanitary Health Risk Department’s four-day investigation into 55 locations resulted in the closure of 23 pharmacies on the Caribbean coast.