scholarly journals Combatting Substandard and Counterfeit Medicines in the Nigerian Drug Market: How Industrial Pharmacists Can Rise Up to the Challenge

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Melody Okereke ◽  
Ignatius Anukwu ◽  
Sola Solarin ◽  
Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing ◽  
Surveillance Systems ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Counterfeit Medicines ◽  
Detection Technology ◽  
Monitoring And Surveillance

Substandard and counterfeit medicines (SCMs) are a major public health threat in Africa. In Nigeria, the manufacture and distribution of substandard and counterfeit medicines in the drug market are booming, despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies to crack down on criminal syndicates over the years. The current situation has been exacerbated due to factors tied to unregulated open drug markets, lack of counterfeit detection technology, poor local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and porous cross-border monitoring and surveillance systems. However, industrial pharmacists have a key role to play in combatting the production and circulation of SCMs in the Nigerian drug market. In this commentary, we examine the prevalence of SCMs in Nigeria and proffer feasible recommendations that industrial pharmacists can leverage to ensure its effective containment.

scholarly journals Ranking potentially harmful Tor hidden services: Illicit drugs perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohd Faizan ◽  
Raees Ahmad Khan ◽  
Alka Agrawal
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Research Work ◽  
Named Entity Recognition ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Entity Recognition ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Named Entity ◽  
Dark Web

Cryptomarkets on the dark web have emerged as a hub for the sale of illicit drugs. They have made it easier for the customers to get access to illicit drugs online while ensuring their anonymity. The easy availability of potentially harmful drugs has resulted in a significant impact on public health. Consequently, law enforcement agencies put a lot of effort and resources into shutting down online markets on the dark web. A lot of research work has also been conducted to understand the working of customers and vendors involved in the cryptomarkets that may help the law enforcement agencies. In this research, we present a ranking methodology to identify and rank top markets dealing in harmful illicit drugs. Using named entity recognition, a harm score of a drug market is calculated to indicate the degree of threat followed by the ranking of drug markets. The top-ranked markets are the ones selling the most harmful drugs. The rankings thus obtained can be helpful to law enforcement agencies by locating specific markets selling harmful illicit drugs and their further monitoring.

Cloudy days ahead: Cross-border evidence collection and its impact on the rights of EU citizens

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-250
Author(s):  
Lawrence Siry
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Cloud Storage ◽  
The United States ◽  
Legal Assistance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Use Of Data ◽  
Evidence Collection ◽  
The Impact

In recent years, the development of cloud storage and the ease of cross-border communication have rendered the area of evidence collection particularly difficult for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), courts and academics. Evidence related to a criminal act in one jurisdiction might be stored in a different jurisdiction. Often it is not even clear in which jurisdiction the relevant data are, and at times the data may be spread over multiple jurisdictions. The traditional rules related to cross-border evidence collection, the mutual legal assistance treaty (MLAT) regimes, have proved to be out-dated, cumbersome and inefficient, as they were suited for a time when the seeking of cross-border evidence was more infrequent. In order to tackle this problem, the United States has enacted the Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data Act, which gives extraterritorial e-evidence collection powers to US courts. Simultaneously, the European Union (EU) has proposed similar sweeping changes which would allow for LEAs in Member States to preserve and collect cloud-based evidence outside of the MLAT system. This article critically evaluates these developments from the perspective of the impact on the rights of EU citizens.

Turf and Illegal Drug Market Competition between Gangs

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 1507-1548 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto J. Naranjo
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Community Policing ◽  
Market Competition ◽  
Drug Market ◽  
Illegal Drug ◽  
Local Communities ◽  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Stage Game ◽  
Enforcement Policies

Abstract Street-level illegal drug markets generate much of the violence and intimidation that local communities face nowadays. These markets are mainly driven by territorial gangs who finance their activities through the sale of drugs. Understanding how the existence of both turf and drug market competition may have unintended consequences of law enforcement policies on violence is the main contribution of the paper. We propose a two-stage game-theoretical model where two profit maximizing gangs compete in prices and invest in guns. We find that policies such as traditional or community policing can have different and unexpected effects on the level of violence.

Six Years Later

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 366-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Décary-Hétu ◽  
Vincent Mousseau ◽  
Sabrina Vidal
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Slow Rate ◽  
Drug Users ◽  
Illicit Drugs ◽  
Technical Skills ◽  
The United States ◽  
Drug Markets ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
The Impact

Cryptomarkets are online illicit marketplaces where drug dealers advertise the sale of illicit drugs. Anonymizing technologies such as the Tor network and virtual currencies are used to hide cryptomarket participants’ identity and to limit the ability of law enforcement agencies to make arrests. In this paper, our aim is to describe how herbal cannabis dealers and buyers in the United States have adapted to the online sale of herbal cannabis through cryptomarkets. To achieve this goal, we evaluate the size and scope of the American herbal cannabis market on cryptomarkets and compare it to other drug markets from other countries, evaluate the impact of cryptomarkets on offline sales of herbal cannabis, and evaluate the ties between the now licit herbal cannabis markets in some States and cryptomarkets. Our results suggest that only a small fraction of herbal cannabis dealers and drug users have transitioned to cryptomarkets. This can be explained by the need for technical skills to buy and sell herbal cannabis online and by the need to have access to computers that are not accessible to all. The slow rate of adoption may also be explained by the higher price of herbal cannabis relative to street prices. If cryptomarkets were to be adopted by a larger portion of the herbal cannabis market actors, our results suggest that wholesale and regional distributors who are not active on cryptomarkets would be the most affected market’s participants.

A tattoo is not a face. Ethical aspects of tattoo-based biometrics

2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-122
Author(s):  
Fabio Bacchini ◽  
Ludovica Lorusso
Keyword(s):  
Face Recognition ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Demographic Groups ◽  
Detection Technology ◽  
Active Debate ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Sensitive Issues

Purpose This study aims to explore the ethical and social issues of tattoo recognition technology (TRT) and tattoo similarity detection technology (TSDT), which are expected to be increasingly used by state and local police departments and law enforcement agencies. Design/methodology/approach The paper investigates the new ethical concerns raised by tattoo-based biometrics on a comparative basis with face-recognition biometrics. Findings TRT raises much more ethically sensitive issues than face recognition, because tattoos are meaningful biometric traits, and tattoo identification is tantamount to the identification of many more personal features that normally would have remained invisible. TSDT’s assumption that classifying people in virtue of their visible features is useful to foretell their attitudes and behaviours is dangerously similar to racist thought. Practical implications The findings hope to promote an active debate on the ethical and social aspects of tattoo-based biometrics before it is intensely implemented by law enforcement agencies. Social implications Tattooed individuals – inasmuch as they are more controlled and monitored – are negatively discriminated in comparison to un-tattooed individuals. As tattooing is not uniformly distributed among population, many demographic groups like African–Americans will be overrepresented in tattoos databases used by TRT and TSDT, thus being affected by disproportionately higher risk to be found as a match for a given suspect. Originality/value TRT and TSDT represent one of the new frontiers of biometrics. The ethical and social issues raised by TRT and TSDT are currently unexplored.

scholarly journals Cybercrime and subculture of cybercriminals

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (S4) ◽  
pp. 858-869
Author(s):  
Yevgen V. Kotukh ◽  
Denis V. Kislov ◽  
Tykhon S. Yarovoi ◽  
Ruslana O. Kotsiuba ◽  
Oleksandr H. Bondarenko
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Cyber Security ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Wide Audience ◽  
Network Nodes ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
History Of

Unlike traditional types of crime, such as murder or theft, that have a long history, cybercrime is a relatively young phenomenon and a new one that emerged with the advent of the Internet. It should be noted that the very nature of the Internet is quite favourable for committing crimes. Its properties such as globality, cross-border nature, the anonymity of users, wide audience coverage, distribution of main network nodes, and their interchangeability create advantages for cybercriminals who use the Internet at all stages of crime and also allow them to effectively hide from law enforcement agencies. An important aspect of cybercrime that contributes to its spread and hinders the fight against it is the subculture of cybercriminals. This subculture needs to be given special attention, so this issue is discussed in detail in the article. Therefore, the purpose of the article was to analyse cybercrime as one of the youngest types of crime in the modern world. The history of the emergence of cybercrime and cyber-security was considered, the types of cybercrime were characterized, and the functions of cybercrime were analysed. 

scholarly journals CRIMINOLOGICAL AND CRIMINAL LAW ASPECTS OF COMBATING CYBER CRIME IN RUSSIA (SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH)

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 41-44
Author(s):  
Konstantin N. Evdokimov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Computer Crime ◽  
Computer Users ◽  
High Tech ◽  
Scientific Article ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Cyber Crime ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
The Russian Federation

The problem of the evolution of computer crime into high-tech crime, its cross-border, transnational, organized and latent nature, requires the scientific community and law enforcement agencies to develop new conceptual approaches to counter this asocial phenomenon. In the scientific article, the author, taking into account the opinion of computer users, proposes a number of measures to prevent, combat and minimize the harmful consequences of computer crimes in the Russian Federation.

scholarly journals Analysis of the effectiveness of regulatory legal acts on counterfeiting of medicines in Ukraine

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-141
Author(s):  
S. O. Lebed ◽  
A. S. Nemchenko
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
The State ◽  
Effective Control ◽  
Court Decisions ◽  
Primary Role ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Scientific Publications ◽  
Counterfeit Medicines ◽  
Falsified Medicines

The problem of medicines counterfeiting is relevant for all countries of the world, without exception. At the same time, the effectiveness of combating the spread of counterfeit medicines (CM) in different countries, as well as the volume of counterfeited medical products, varies. Any state that aimed to ensure highly effective control over the circulation of medicines has to elaborate a comprehensive solution to this problem, primarily to adopt high-quality national legislation. The executive authorities should not only pay attention to neutralizing CM problem, but also take the most active part in this process. The primary role here should be played by law enforcement authorities. There is a need for coordinated work by law enforcement authorities to investigate the cases of falsified medicines and clandestine production, as well as by regulatory bodies to identify such products. It is also necessary to systematize the investigative and judicial practice on this issue, create an unified system for recording the facts of identifying the counterfeit drugs. The need for systematic monitoring and analysis of regulatory legal acts regarding the counteraction to the circulation of the CM in order to assess their effectiveness, as well as the adoption of appropriate measures by the authorized bodies, determine the relevance of the study. The aim of the work was to analyze the laws and regulations of CM adopted in Ukraine after the Declaration of Independence had been signed (1991), to assess their effectiveness in terms of bringing perpetrators to justice for pharmaceutical counterfeiting. Materials and methods. Scientific publications on the problem of CM, as well as the Laws of Ukraine and legal acts adopted by various authorities to combat the spread of falsified medicines, reports of law enforcement agencies, the General Prosecutor’s Office, the State Judicial Administration, court decisions included in the Unified State Register of Court Decisions (USRCD) under Article 321-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The analysis of the respective norms of the legislation adopted during 1991–2020 is carried out. Results. Having analyzed the reports of law enforcement agencies, the State Statistical Office, and the Prosecutor General’s Office, the authors established that none of the people who had been convicted under Article 321-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine, after the entry of the guilty verdict into force, was in places of deprivation of liberty. There are many information sources that provide various forms of statistics, but understanding them is quite a challenge. A large number of criminal proceedings have been investigated for a long time, and since the USRCD is inaccessible, and is available only for the pre-trial investigation bodies and the prosecutor’s office, it is impossible for a private person to get information regarding the end of the pre-trial investigation in certain cases. Conclusions. Despite the large quantity of regulatory legal acts adopted in Ukraine to prevent the spread of counterfeit medicines, the severity of the sanctions of Article 321-1 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes the falsification and circulation of medicines, as well as the importance of medicines’ counterfeiting for public health, the effectiveness of measures to combat this phenomenon is dramatically low.

scholarly journals Content analysis of the official documents on the turnover of counterfeit medicines in Ukraine in 2017–2020

2021 ◽  
pp. 3-15
Author(s):  
С. О. Лебедь ◽  
А. С. Немченко
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The State ◽  
Counterfeit Drugs ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Counterfeit Medicines ◽  
Medicines Information ◽  
State Supervision ◽  
Effective Exchange

The purpose of the work was to conduct a content analysis of the orders of the State Medicines Service on the prohibition of the circulation of counterfeit medicines and the information messages of law enforcement agencies in 2017–2020. The object of the study was the orders of the State Medicines Service on the prohibition of the circulation of counterfeit medicines, information messages of law enforcement agencies to identify the facts of clandestine production and counterfeiting, publications on the problems of it’s distribution. The study used the methods of content analysis, systematization and generalization. Тo prevent the circulation of counterfeit medicines in the countries of the world, various methods of countering counterfeiting are being introduced, however, only in Ukraine was the restriction of measures of state supervision (control) in the pharmaceutical sector introduced as an element of deregulation. In connection with this, it was investigated how such restrictions, which were introduced three times, has influenced the identification and distribution of counterfeit medicines. For the study, a methodology for content analysis of official documents on the circulation of counterfeit medicines in the country for 2017–2020 has been proposed. In most of the orders of the State Medicines Service, revealed signs of drug falsification were introduced, which related to the labeling of packages. The imposition of a moratorium on planned measures of state supervision had a negative impact on the work of quality control bodies of medicines to identify counterfeits. In 2010–2014 (before the introduction of the first moratorium) the State Medicines Service issued 326 orders prohibiting the circulation of counterfeit medicines, but after the introduction of the moratorium, the number of orders for 6 years decreased significantly – to 118. So, in 2020, the State Medicines Service issued only 4 orders to prohibit the circulation of counterfeit drugs (for comparisons in 2017 – 18), although law enforcement officers revealed 6 facts of clandestine production and counterfeit. According to the results of the study, it was established that it was necessary to unify and standardize the management documents of the State Medicines Service on the prohibition of the circulation of counterfeit medicines, and also indicated the feasibility of introducing «field screening» of the often counterfeited medicines, to establish the real part of counterfeit medicines. Information messages from law enforcement agencies should not be limited only to the facts of revealing clandestine proceedings, but also should contain the results of court decisions on these facts. It is advisable to intensify interaction with regulatory authorities in other countries for a more effective exchange of information on detected of counterfeit medicines.

scholarly journals PUTTING PAID TO THE UNTOUCHABLES? The effects of dissolving the Directorate of Special Operations and the Specialised Commercial Crime Units

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gail Wannenburg
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
Organised Crime ◽  
Strategy Use ◽  
Western Coast ◽  
Law Enforcement Agencies ◽  
Special Operations ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Distribution Chain ◽  
Criminal Groups

When law enforcement agencies arrest abalone poachers on the Western Coast of South Africa, they may not be aware that the drying and processing of the delicacy takes place in Gauteng and that the buyers are organised crime networks in China. It will not be evident that the criminals use the profits (at about R1 400 per kilogram) to buy drugs for the local Southern African market. The syndicate or loose network of crime groups may have a distribution chain of dispensable individuals of different nationalities encompassing several countries, specialising in particular aspects of the trade and dealing in a wide variety of illegal goods. Indeed, the arrest of the poachers is unlikely to reveal that the profits are being used to barter for drugs and that a large number of illegal and apparently legal companies are being used to transfer money across the globe. Catching these kinds of transnational, cross-border, multi-ethnic and flexible criminal groups is difficult unless law enforcement agencies have a multi-faceted strategy, use the skills of a wide range of personnel and have the time and resources to investigate and prosecute them effectively. Traditional law enforcement is geared towards arresting the criminal ‘runners’ rather than the ‘kingpins’. The DSO and the SCCU acquired a reputation as the ‘untouchables’ – units that are admired, revered and feared – and it seems unlikely that their replacement will enjoy the same success and reputation.

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