Faking It: “Viagra Trucho” Washes Ashore in Buenos Aires

From China With Love: Over 400,000 fake Viagra and Cialis tablets were seized yesterday in BA.

No shortage of strange merchandise arrives daily at the Port of Buenos Aires, but the shipment seized yesterday by port officials is the kind of fodder that makes satirists and late-night talk show hosts salivate.

On the surface, the jumbo container from China appeared innocent enough….“Electric Lamps” read the paperwork. But on closer inspection, Argentine Customs officials discovered 400,000 blister packs containing Viagra and Cialis tablets in 23 boxes. (You have to give the Chinese credit for good market timing. With temperatures soaring to 100 this past weekend, exposed skin, stress and sexual tensions runneth over in BA.)

But rather than confiscating or sampling these little electric lamps (that reportedly last between 6 and 36 hours), court officials ordered a chemical analysis of the merchandise. The lab results were less-than-arousing: The tablets were fake…a finding which Pfizer later confirmed.

So with all of the comedic elements in place (cultural, sexual, trade scandal, etc.), the floodgates opened on the local message boards. This comment by “DCirlo_Carlo” under La Nacion’s article is a prime example: “How wonderful!  Just what we Argentines needed, fake Viagra! On the bright side, at least we have abundant alternative sexual stimulants at hand: You just need to read the Political page of any newspaper, and the fever it generates would be enough to film 30 consecutive pornos without pausing for an aspirin.”