( CNN ) -- Authorities have seized 9,072 kilograms ( 20,000 pounds ) of counterfeit medicine and arrested 80 people suspected of illegal trafficking in six East African nations , Interpol said Thursday . More than 300 premises were checked or raided in the two-month operation across Uganda , Burundi , Kenya , Rwanda , Tanzania and Zanzibar , according to a news release from the international police agency . The confiscated loot included anti-malaria drugs , vaccines and antibiotics . There was also a significant quantity of government medicines diverted to illegal resale markets . It was the third such seizure operation in as many years in East Africa , intended to curb the manufacture and distribution of counterfeit medical products . Representatives of the six nations are scheduled to meet in Zanzibar next week to discuss the seizure and the extent of the counterfeiting problem , Interpol said . The World Health Organization defines counterfeit drugs as `` medicine , which is deliberately and fraudulently mislabelled with respect to identity and/or source . '' Counterfeiting can apply to both brand-name and generic products , and forged products may include those with the correct ingredients or with the wrong ingredients , without active ingredients , with insufficient active ingredients , or with fake packaging , WHO says . The United Nations agency created a global task force in 2006 to deal with the problem , which has been growing as international markets expand and become globalized and internet commerce has taken off . The fake products can prove detrimental to public health efforts in disease-ridden countries and in worst-case scenarios can cause death , according to the WHO task force .
The two-month operation was conducted in six nations . The counterfeit medicine problem has grown in recent years . Fake drugs can lead to death , World Health Organization says .