The Ho Chi Minh City market watchdog has caught a local establishment producing fake condoms and personal lubricants mimicking famous brands in large numbers and selling the counterfeit products for huge markups.

More than 50,000 condoms and lubricant tubes were seized when officials raided a facility in District 12 on Saturday.

They also confiscated 120,000 semi-finished products, over 100,000 packages and 60 kilograms of unused ingredients.

The products were packaged as popular brands, such as Durex and Sure, and wrongly labeled to be made in Thailand and Malaysia.

The owner of the facility confessed to buying ingredients from Kim Bien, a wholesale market specializing in chemicals in District 5, and put them in a mixer to produce the fake lubricants before bottling them for sale.

A mixer used to produce fake personal lubricants at an establishment in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

In the meantime, mass-produced condoms of unclear origin were bought from a source, lubricated and packaged into Durex boxes to fool consumers.

The facility had been in operation for about five weeks, supplying multiple stores in Ho Chi Minh City as well as online shops, before it was busted.

Such fake products can sell for up to three times its original cost of production, according to L., who runs an online shop vending adult toys.

“Customers never know when they’re getting a fake one,” said the manager of a condom store in Thu Duc District, Ho Chi Minh City.

“Many think that it’s just a condom, and even a fake one can do the work,” she said.

Fake condoms and personal lubricants produced at an establishment in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to Dr. Mai Ba Tien Dung, head of the andrology division at Binh Dan Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, using condoms of unclear origin can result in grave consequences, including severe infection of the user’s sex organ.

The hospital is currently treating two male patients for necrotizing infection of their genitals after they used fake condoms.

“The chances of getting an allergic reaction is also higher when people use fake condoms,” Dr. Dung said.

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