Vietnamese police have dismantled a large-scale counterfeit food and supplement operation involving Medistar Vietnam Co., Ltd., with estimated illegal revenue close to $72 million.

The operation was a joint effort by the Lao Cai Provincial Police, the Economic Crime Investigation Department (C03) under the Ministry of Public Security, and the Hanoi Police. Authorities executed simultaneous raids on January 18 across five locations in Hanoi, deploying ten task forces with nearly 200 officers.

During the operation, police discovered an entire production line manufacturing counterfeit health supplements at a factory belonging to Medistar Vietnam.

Investigators seized thousands of products labeled as collagen supplements, vitamins, and joint health pills in the process of being packaged. Authorities also released images of these counterfeit goods to the public.

Doan Trung Duc, 45, General Director of Medistar Vietnam, has been charged along with five others for producing and trading counterfeit food, foodstuffs, and food additives. They are also being investigated for serious violations of accounting regulations.

Preliminary findings show that the illegal operation began in 2012 and continued until 2025. Over that period, the ring is believed to have sold hundreds of tons of counterfeit supplements across the country.

The group allegedly earned nearly 1.8 trillion VND (approximately USD 72 million) from the fake products. A significant portion of the proceeds was kept off the official accounting records, allowing the suspects to illicitly pocket hundreds of billions of dong and causing substantial tax losses to the state.

The main production site, located at Lot 38-2 in Quang Minh Industrial Park, Hanoi, was found to be actively producing and packaging fake supplements at the time of the raid.

Authorities are continuing their investigation and have warned consumers to be cautious about the source of dietary supplements on the market.