More than 1,000 people in Campeche were inoculated with fake Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines, authorities said.
The vaccines were administered to workers at Grupo Karim’s, a textile factory in Campeche, police told local media.
The owner of the factory, Mohamad Yusfuff Amdani — a Pakistani national — is said to have close ties to high-ranking political officials in the state.
It is unclear how the discovery was made, but authorities highlighted that every dose of the Sputnik V COVID-19 has its own unique QR code which is carefully tracked.
Earlier this month, authorities at the airport in Campeche confiscated thousands of fake Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccines.
The fake vaccines entered Mexico on a private aircraft that had arrived from Honduras and were found hidden in ice coolers among drinks and snacks.
The discovery was made when authorities inspecting the cargo noticed that the design on the vaccine labels was inconsistent with standard specifications provided by the Russian government.
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Suspects were handed over to authorities who contacted the Honduran government for aid in their investigation.
After a handful of similar incidents in Mexico and around the world, INTERPOL has issued an alert regarding the distribution of fake COVID-19 vaccines.
The international agency reports that it has made several arrests in China and South Africa as the result of investigations stemming from fake vaccine manufacturing and distribution networks.
