Mother and two daughters caught selling candy laced with erectile dysfunc...

Photos of illegally imported candies laced with erectile dysfunction medication [MINISTRY OF FOOD AND DRUG SAFETY]

A mother and her two daughters have been caught selling candies laced with erectile dysfunction medication, which they marketed as “natural health products,” food safety authorities said.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's Southern Regional Food and Drug Crime Investigation Task Force referred a total of seven people to prosecutors on charges of violating the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Control and the Food Sanitation Act, the ministry said Thursday.

The group includes three sellers, including the mother, who served as ringleader, and her two daughters. The other people referred to prosecutors were a supplier and three others on the supply side. The candies contained prescription erectile dysfunction drug Tadalafil.

The three sellers are accused of receiving undeclared products from the supplier and selling them across a total of 3,564 transactions worth about 1 billion won ($664,000) in aggregate between June 2022 and December 2024.

The supplier smuggled the products into Korea by hiding them in personal belongings during trips between Vietnam and Korea, investigators said.

The sellers marketed the candies as having ingredients derived from natural substances, such as ginseng, enzymes and malt, and advertised them as effective treatments not only for erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation but also for cancer, memory loss, diabetes and rheumatism.

Side effects caused by the erectile dysfunction medicine in the candies, including fever, dizziness and headaches, were explained away as temporary detoxification reactions, the task force said.

Tadalafil is a prescription-only medication that cannot be used without a doctor's approval. Taking more than the allowed dosage can cause serious side effects including headache, indigestion, myocardial infarction, ventricular arrhythmia, angina and cardiovascular bleeding.

“We identified the illegal activity through online monitoring and launched an investigation, seizing 30 million won worth of the products,” a task force official said.

“We will strengthen our crackdown and investigations on illegally distributed food products.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.