Officials in New York announced Friday that 72-websites had been shut-down as part of an international effort against counterfeit prescription drugs being sold over the Internet. The medicines include slimming pills and oral contraceptives.

In its news release, Interpol said, Operation Pangea II involved Interpol, U. S. agencies and task forces from two dozen countries.

Monitoring during the five-day operation revealed 751-web sites to be engaged in illegal activity like selling controlled or prescription-only drugs, 72 of which the international law enforcement agency took down. Over 16,000-packages were inspected, of which 995 were seized. According to Interpol, nearly 167,000-illicit and counterfeit pills, such as, antibiotics, steroids and slimming pills were confiscated.

Twenty-two people are being investigated for a range of alleged crimes. And while, many counterfeit pills are simply placebos, they are still considered dangerous, as patients do not receive the requisite medication, while others may risk overdose by containing far too much of an active ingredient, including others cut with dangerous substances.

According to officials, prescription drugs are the fastest-growing counterfeit item, with drug seizures for counterfeiting and patent and trademark violations rising from 6% in 2007 to 10% in 2008.