They have adapted to demand, like any business. Amid concerns about a second wave of coronavirus, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is sounding the alarm on the significant increase in the trafficking of masks, disinfectants and even products poor quality or counterfeit medical products. Dangerous products manufactured by organized criminal groups, explains at the microphone of Europe 1 Marion Ehalt, associate expert in crime prevention at the UNODC.
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Products that can "lead to death"
Masks, hydroalcoholic gel, screening tests and even chloroquine, these international groups have organized their traffic by surfing the demand created in the wake of the pandemic. "There is really behind a criminal intention to deceive on the identity, the composition or the source of the product", she explains. This makes them very dangerous products, since in many cases they can "aggravate the disease, develop resistance to drugs, and even lead to death". A traffic which therefore has a potential impact "very serious on public health", she summarizes.
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"The coronavirus pandemic was an opportunity for criminals who took advantage of the strong market demand for protections and hygiene products," confirms Interpol in a press release. The Lyon-based international police cooperation organization has even announced that it has seized nearly 20 million contraband pharmaceutical products since February in the Middle East and North Africa.
The future vaccine against Covid-19, the next target of criminals?
From analgesics to thermometers and gloves, these criminal organizations have embarked on the production of anything that can be sold around the Covid-19. But they do not intend to stop there and are probably already eyeing a counterfeit of the future vaccine against the coronavirus. It is in any case a fear of the UNODC.