http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=3730360
Organised & transnatinal Crime
Andrew Woodcock, PA
"Counterfeit medicines are becoming a major source of finance for organised crime and terrorist groups, according to a survey published today.
Profits from fake pharmaceuticals can be larger than from narcotics like heroin and cocaine, but the trade carries a lower risk for traffickers because law enforcement agencies are not as aware of the problem, said the report by the Stockholm Network thinktank.
Author Graham Satchwell warned that bogus medicines may be harming or even killing patients in the UK. In China, around 100,000 people died last year as a result of taking counterfeits.
Mr Satchwell, a former detective superintendent and one-time spokesman on counterfeit goods for the Association of Chief Police Officers, called for legitimate manufacturers, governments and police forces to get together to draw up a united European response to the problem."
