A passenger was caught attempting to bring approximately 30,000 Viagra pills, worth NIS 600,000, into Ben-Gurion Airport without approval from Israel’s Health Ministry or paying the tax for the medications, a spokesperson from the Tax Authority announced on Thursday.
Moshe Levy, a resident of Kiryat Ata, was returning from a five-day trip to India when customs inspectors discovered the Viagra in his luggage. It is believed that the pills were intended for distribution.
Levy had attempted to travel through the airport’s green lane, indicating he had nothing to declare, with two pieces of luggage, the authority claimed. No other contraband was discovered during the search of his personal items.
The authority emphasized that the pills posed a risk to public health, as they had not been approved by the Health Ministry.
Investigations revealed that the Kiryat Ata resident had attempted to smuggle hundreds of thousands of shekels' worth of materials in the past. Last April, he had reportedly tried to smuggle Viagra pills and was placed under restrictive conditions.
The latest thwarted smuggling attempt was the first flight the suspect had taken since his passport was returned to him.
Levy’s passport has since been taken from him and will be held for 180 days. He was also brought before the magistrate’s court in Rishon LeZion and placed under restrictive conditions as customs officials weigh the possibility of filing an indictment against him.
The dangers of unregulated Viagra
An August report by the New York Times on Indian sexual stimulant pills entering the Ivory Coast reported that the unregulated medication carried significant health risks for those consuming the medication.
The men who consumed the pills reportedly experienced dangerous erections and were put at an elevated risk of heart attacks.
A large number of the 500,000 who die in sub-Saharan Africa annually as a result of consuming unregulated medication had consumed sexual stimulants, according to the World Health Organization.