Health officials have warned against consuming made in China sex stimulants that are being sold in Malaysia illegally by Chinese nationals who enter the country as tourists, a report said today.

Health ministry pharmaceutical division director Che Mohamad Zin Che Awang said the activity came to light recently when health officials conducted raids and seized a wide range of sex stimulants - from fake Viagra to a sort of liquid for women - from foreign peddlers.

"There is a type of clear liquid in an unassuming little bottle that will cause women to be sexually stimulated as soon as they consume just one droplet of it when mixed into their drinks," he was quoted as saying by The Star newspaper.

Che Mohamad said the female sex stimulants have brand names like American Play Girl and Red Spider and are sold mainly in the form of liquid.

Fake Viagra

Other sex products that are being sold are fake Viagra pills which had a more powerful dosage than the legitimate drug and could cause a heart attack.

Che Mohamad said health officials have been deployed since last week at major points of entry to check the luggage of incoming tourists.

"Before this, our enforcement teams were stationed at the cargo entry points and that is why we failed to detect the supplies through luggage carriers early," he said.

The Star newspaper said the price of an imitation Chinese-made Viagra pill was RM12 compared to RM38 each for the original pill.

Malaysian men are the world's biggest consumers of Viagra pills per capita, the impotence drug's local distributors, Pfizer Malaysia Sdn Bhd said in 2001.

Pfizer had said some 40,000 men consume the drug regularly on a prescription basis since it was marketed in 1998. Malaysia has a population of 23 million people. - AFP