Two men have been arrested for illicit trading in anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs in a joint operation by South African and German authorities, the Hawks said on Thursday.
"An investigation by the German Federal Criminal Police, SAPS Crime Intelligence and the Hawks focused on a syndicate which specialised in the cross-border trade of pharmaceutical HIV drugs," spokesman Colonel McIntosh Polela said in a statement.
The investigation, which began last December, revealed that the ARVs were sourced in the United Kingdom and repackaged in South Africa before being sold in Europe via Germany.
On Wednesday, German authorities arrested a man on Sylt Island, in northern Germany, while the Hawks and Crime Intelligence simultaneously arrested a Cape Town man.
The South African man, in his early 50s, operated an unregistered pharmaceutical company and was found in possession of ARV samples, Polela said.
The man was expected to appear in the Goodwood Magistrate's Court.
Just R20 for the first month. Support independent journalism by subscribing to our digital news package. 