LONDON, Oct 4: A British court jailed three men for a total of 10 years on Thursday for their part in an international crime ring which bought fake drugs, including Viagra, in Asia before selling them in Britain.

The operation bought bogus drugs for as little as 25 pence in China and Pakistan before they were sold online to unsuspecting customers for up to 20 pounds per tablet.

Gary Haywood, 59, Ashwin Patel, 25, and Zahid Mirza, 46, were sentenced after Ashish Halai, the operation’s British ringleader, was jailed for four and a half years last month.

Mr Haywood received a six year sentence after being convicted of conspiring to sell fake medicines, selling medicines without a wholesalers’ licence and money laundering. Mr Mirza, who was not in the court having absconded from bail, was jailed for two-and-a-half years.—AFP