Buying discount drugs over the Internet can be like playing Russian roulette with your health.

That’s the advice from law enforcement officials who have seized thousands of doses of incoming prescription pharmaceuticals and health remedies that are at best counterfeits and at worst dangerous or deadly.

RCMP and Canadian Border Security Agency officials said Thursday the seized packages coming from foreign countries often purport to contain popular drugs like Viagra or Cialis, and most recently, phoney H1N1 flu vaccine.

“The groups that sell these products online are often involved in organized crime,” said Sgt. Duncan Pound, of the RCMP Border Integrity Program.

“They identify a need such as concerns over H1N1 and sell a fake product to make a quick buck. These people are not concerned about the quality of what they sell or the end results when it arrives at its destination.”

More than 10,000 packages of suspect health products have been intercepted at the Vancouver International Mail Centre over the past six months, according to CBSA officials.

Tests show some drugs or health supplements marketed via websites have contained a variety of contaminants – including yellow highway paint and in some cases arsenic or lead.

They can also contain inactive ingredients, incorrect ingredients or wildly varying dosages out of line with what’s advertised.

Counterfeiters use sophisticated systems to closely replicate the packaging and labeling of legitimate prescription drugs.

Common targets include erectile dysfunction drugs and the pain killer Oxycodone.

Recent shipments from China purporting to be acai berry supplement have also been found to contain undisclosed prescription drugs.

“These products may look genuine but in fact may be harmful or toxic,” Pound said.

The websites are often carefully designed to mislead the buyer into believing they’re buying Canadian products from Canada, when in fact they’re shipped in from overseas.

“We are seeing an increase in websites and email advertisements claiming to offer cheap, legitimate and legal products,” Pound said. “Frankly, these claims are almost entirely false.”