Counterfeiting feeds organised crime, says UNODC

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has launched a public awareness campaign on counterfeit goods, saying they line the pockets of organised criminals with around $250bn a year in illicit gains.

The campaign - which goes by the strapline Don't Buy into Organized Crime - is centred around a public service announcement  that started airing on television stations yesterday (see below) and strives to show the serious repercussions of trafficking in fake goods.



"The illicit trafficking and sale of counterfeit goods provides criminals with a significant source of income and facilitates the laundering of other illicit proceeds," UNODC said in a statement.

Added to that, revenues support the manufacture of more counterfeit products and other forms of criminal activity, such as narcotics, and the goods produced can in some cases place the public at risk of injury or death.

Around 16 per cent of counterfeits are goods such as medicines, food and drink, cosmetics and toys that could pose a health risk, says a UNODC fact sheet, which notes that "the sale of fraudulent medicines from East Asia and the Pacific to South-East Asia and Africa alone amounts to some $5bn per year."

Criminal groups use similar routes and modi operandi to move counterfeit goods as they do to smuggle illicit drugs, firearms and people, says the UNODC, citing 2013 data that showed counterfeit medicines were identified in around a third of seized containers in a programme designed to intercept drugs.

 The campaign also highlights ethical issues associated with counterfeiting, including labour exploitation, migrant smuggling and environmental impact from the use of harmful chemicals in the manufacture of fake goods.

"In comparison to other crimes such as drug trafficking, the production and distribution of counterfeit goods present a low-risk/high-profit opportunity for criminals," commented UNODC’s executive director Yury Fedotov.