Viagra pills from China are among the illicit goods that passengers have been trying to take past customs at New York's JFK Airport.

The Viagra pills and other commodities were documented by Taryn Simon. The internationally renowned photographer spent 5 days and night last year sleeping on an air mattress at the airport last year, taking photographs of goods coming into the country.

Simon's mission was to confront American desire, something she believes that counterfeit goods coming through customs are indicative of. She witnessed: "Louis Vuitton bags, Nike sneakers, counterfeit gold, counterfeit Viagra and illegal steroids." Simons says illegal goods like these threaten American business. Her photographs are brought together in Contraband: an exhibition in New York and Beverly Hills, California. A 500-page book of the same title will be published soon.

Fake Viagra trade

The fake Viagra trade has expanded dramatically over the past 10 years. Pfizer, who manufacture the impotence drug, have even drafted in ex-CIA and FBI personnel to tackle the problem. These officials have gone as far afield as China in their pursuit of counterfeiting rings. Over the course of the past year, counterfeiters have been shut down in Israel, the UK and Taiwan among other countries. Over the past 3 months 180,000 fake Viagra tablets were seized at Heathrow Airport in London. An official there warned that with counterfeit medications you “simply do not know what you may be taking, and that can pose a great danger to your health."

Experts are proposing a new system where drug packets are accompanied by a code, which can be texted to an official number to see whether they are genuine or not.

Always check that you are buying from a genuine source if you are purchasing Viagra online.