Organized crime behind theft of anti-cancer drugs, WSJ

Enforcement official says probe reveals crime network

(ANSA) - Rome, May 2 - An Italian probe has found that an extensive organized criminal network is behind the distribution of stolen and counterfeit anti-cancer drugs across Western Europe, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday. "Organized crime is certainly involved; there's a central structure apparently based in Italy that commissions thefts of medicines in hospitals," Domenico Di Giorgio told the WSJ. Di Giorgio is the director for the prevention of counterfeiting at the pharmaceutical watchdog Italian Medicines Agency (AIFA).

People familiar with the probe told WSJ it appears the Naples-based Camorra mafia is behind thefts along with Eastern European organized crime networks and, in particular, a Russian citizen living in Cyprus. AIFA is coordinating the probe along with the anti-fraud NAS squad of the Carabinieri paramilitary police, Di Giorgio told the WSJ.

The European Medicines Agency in mid-April warned that tainted vials of the Roche cancer drug Herceptin had resurfaced in Finland, Germany and the UK after being stolen in Italy, the WSJ reported. The agency later reported that batches of Eli Lilly's Alimta and Remicade had also been taken. Reports have caused alarm as fake or contaminated drugs may be ineffective or even deadly, as well as hit revenues for pharmaceutical companies.