Asia Pharma Ltd, said to be a Kuala Lumpur-based pharmaceutical firm run by a suspected steroid trafficker from Slovenia with a worldwide operation, has an online presence here but is not registered nor authorised to trade in drugs in Malaysia, the Ministry of Health has said.
Mihael Karner was last week reported by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) to be behind an umbrella company advertising sales of anabolic steroids in Malaysia called Asia Pharma, and was among six individuals and groups listed by US President Barack Obama as a significant foreign drug trafficker under its Kingpin Act.
“Investigation conducted locally indicates that Asia Pharma does not have a physical address in Malaysia and the listed local phone number is not in service,” Mohd Hatta Ahmad, who is director of enforcement in the Health Ministry’s pharmaceutical services division, said in an email reply to The Malaysian Insider’s inquiry.
“Also the steroids were not brought into nor exported from Malaysia [sic] soil. It is probable that the said company reside [sic] its server locally without being legally nor physically registered in Malaysia,” he added...
Mohd Hatta said the Health Ministry’s checks on Asia Pharma also turned up empty as it was not registered as a pharmaceutical company with the Drug Control Authority, which is under the Control of Drugs and Cosmetics Regulations 1984 (CDCR).
“This company is therefore not authorised to trade in pharmaceutical products,” he said.
The trade of steroids is regulated in Malaysia under the Poisons Act 1952, Mohd Hatta said.
