Police have confiscated more than 15,000 items of counterfeit herbal medicines, cosmetics and supplementary food in a raid on warehouses in two northeastern provinces, the Consumer Protection Police Division said on Tuesday.
The warehouses are believed to be key regional distribution centres.
Speaking at a press conference, division commander Natthasak Chaovanasai said the police team was working in close cooperation with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to investigate fake herbal medicines being sold under the "Khun Sumrit" brand.
Clues led them to the two warehouses in Chaiyaphum and Nakhon Ratchasima provinces, where they found the haul of illegal products believed to hold a market value of more than 2 million baht.
Police, however, have failed to arrest the culprits, saying that further investigations are under way and that they have some pertinent information in hand to pin down the people involved.
"Initial information shows that these two warehouses are not owned by the same person. We need to investigate the case further to see if we can find the manufacturers of these products," he added.
Bundit World company, which owns the Khun Sumrit brand, filed a police complaint in August last year when it discovered that counterfeit products under its brand name were being sold in the Northeast.
The company said the sale of these products had caused more than 1 million baht in lost revenue.
The complaint immediately led to the confiscation of more than 6,000 bottles of fake herbal medicines.
Supattra Boonserm, the FDA's deputy secretary-general, said it has also found that the banned food supplement, Lyn, contained the prohibited chemical Sibutramine and that other unregistered cosmetics being sold were also dangerous for users.
She warned shops against selling these illegal products, adding that the drug agency was working closely with police to protect consumers.
She also advised consumers to first check if a product is registered with the FDA via its Oryor application or its 1556 hotline before purchasing them.
She added that this case is in violation of many laws, including the Herbal Drug Act, the Drug Act, the Cosmetics Law and the Food Act.
The penalty for the Food Act violation is a maximum three year prison term and/or a fine of up to 300,000 baht.