Consumer protection police seized a large number of fake cosmetics in a raid on a warehouse in Bangkok's Bang Bon district on Tuesday. The warehouse owner was arrested.
Pol Maj Gen Nathasak Chaowanasai, commander of the Consumer Protection Police Division, said the warehouse was located in Soi Kamnan Maen 13 in Khlong Bang Phan area.
Found and seized in the raid were 4,400 boxes and 38,400 packets of fake cosmetics of various well-known brand names. They had been smuggled into the country.
The owner of the warehouse, a 33-year-old Chinese man, was arrested and brought to the CPPD's 4th Sub-Division headquarters for legal action.
Since the fake cosmetics were smuggled into the country, they were sold at unusually low prices. Without being approved by the Food and Drug Administration, they might contain harmful substances, polivce said.
They added anyone who find cosmetics suspected to be fake should call CPPD at hotline number 1135 or send a message to CPPD webpage, Pol Maj Gen Nathasak said.
Supatra Boonserm, FDA deputy secretary-general, said fake cosmetics were usually sold online or at markets. Sellers often claimed they could be sold at low prices because they were not taxed. Buyers should be wary of items with exaggerated qualities, particularly whitening products, which could be harmful to the skin, she said.
Ms Supatra said the FDA had found in many fake cosmetics banned substances such as mercury, hydroquinone and Vitamin A acid which could cause cancer. Some people even died of allergy to mercury in cosmetics, she said.