Counterfeiting, trafficking and illicit trade in medicines

Abstract

In recent years, the presence of organized crime has increased in many areas of our societies, showing ever greater power. In the last two decades, these criminal organizations have created more complex structures and with their cross-border activities they have embraced new criminal modalities. Drug trafficking is one of the criminal activities that, together with the trafficking of psychotropic substances, produces a greater amount of income for these international organizations.

There is an international fight to combat an activity that endangers public health and harms the confidence of citizens around the planet in pharmaceutical products. The high profitability of this type of traffic and the need for little structure and investment make the activity very efficient and criminal groups are attracted to this criminal modality.

The prosecution of these crimes is very complex because many elements are involved in the supply chain, both internal and external to the organizations themselves. The Internet has facilitated transactions in fake or unwarranted medicines, creating a parallel and illegal market that moves billions around the world. International collaboration and cooperation between authorities, institutions, police and judicial bodies has become essential.