Ranking No. 1 for the second consecutive year, the USA had 76 total incidents of counterfeit, stolen or diverted drugs. Colombia had 60, and China had 59.

"As the largest market for retail pharmaceutical sales in the world, the U.S. will continue to be a target for the distribution of counterfeit, stolen and diverted medicines," says the Pharmaceutical Security Institute's report.

[Katherine Eban] says counterfeits and authentic, but stolen, drugs are sold and resold in the so-called secondary wholesale market. Nationwide, thousands of wholesalers are licensed. While many are legitimate, disreputable firms have been found to slip fake, stolen and diverted drugs into the supply.