The National Police have so far arrested five people who apparently made around 600,000 euros from the sale of a fake medicine which they claimed could cure cancer.
To date, ten people who purchased the medicine have placed charges with the police. One of them paid over 25,000, according to the police yesterday. In this case, the false cure was bought by the parents for their daughter who was suffering from cancer.
It was also revealed that the Spanish Association Against Cancer in the Balearics (AECC) awarded two oncology research grants to projects developed by the team of two teachers from the University of the Balearic Islands and their three partners for selling the fake anti-cancer drug.
The AECC says that it "will initiate a process of investigation of the current project and, if deemed necessary, it will be cancelled".
"The AECC deeply regrets the harm done to cancer patients and is available to affected patients and their families to advise and support them in this situation," a spokesperson for the association added.
However, the association stated that "it does not supervise or collaborate in the execution of third-party clinical trials, it only subsidises the projects that win the scholarships which are recognised each year by the Scientific Foundation".
The National Police said that the team of five were also planning on selling an apparently false cure for Alzheimer’s.
The false cancer cure was sold in various locations in Spain.