15,000 ‘Viagra’ pills mailed to a Michigan home won’t ever get there, feds say

A shipment with thousands of fake Viagra pills was seized before it could arrive at a Michigan residence, officials say.

The shipment of 15,000 tablets marked as Viagra 100 mg tablets also included various brands of honey mixed with Sildenafil, the medication used to treat erectile dysfunction, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The pills could have sold for more than $1 million if real, officials said.

“Unapproved prescriptions may be manufactured using incorrect or harmful ingredients,” officials said in a Tuesday news release. “This medicine is then packaged and labeled to look like the real thing. Counterfeit medicines are unsafe because they may not work and could be harmful.”

The shipment was intercepted and seized by agents in Chicago. A company in Istanbul, Turkey, mailed it to the Michigan residence, officials say.

“Our officers are dedicated to identifying and intercepting these types of shipments that could potentially harm our communities,” Shane Campbell, Port Director-Chicago, said in the news release. “Consumers do not realize the risk they are taking when using prescription drugs from other countries. These non-regulated drugs could cause health concerns or even death.”

The pills were sent to the Food and Drug Administration for a criminal investigation.