Polish police smash 'world's largest' fake Viagra plant

Polish police said Wednesday they had smashed what could be the world's largest illegal laboratory producing counterfeit Viagra-type pills and steroids during a raid near the northern city of Bydgoszcz.

"It was the world's largest factory making anti-impotence drugs according to representatives of four companies whose products were counterfeited," police spokeswoman Agnieszka Hamelusz told AFP.

She said police had seized over 100,000 fake pills for erectile dysfunction and 430,000 vials of steroids worth an estimated 17 million zlotys (3.95 million euros, $4.4 million).

Officers have arrested 14 suspects over the course of several months, Hamelusz confirmed.

Police allege the gang sold millions of euros worth of the counterfeit drugs via the internet, labelling them with popular brand names as well as their own branding.

A police swoop on a house near Bydgoszcz turned up machines worth a million euros installed in secret rooms that could only be accessed through hidden passages.

Products for the manufacture of the drugs came from China via Greece, Britain and Romania.