Arrests are often viewed as a key measure of law enforcement's effectiveness in addressing crime. However, law enforcement practices with regard to arrests can differ significantly from country to country. In addition to identifying law enforcement's involvement in a particular incident, PSI has been collecting information concerning arrests as an indicator of governments' commitment to address pharmaceutical crime.
Through member and open source reports, PSI documented the arrest of 1,047 persons involved in counterfeiting, diversion or theft of pharmaceutical drugs worldwide during CY 2007. This was an increase of thirty-nine percent (39%) over the arrest total in CY 2006. Greater international attention, dialogue and discussion of pharmaceutical crime appears to have resulted in a corresponding increase in enforcement actions and arrests.
