Africans Indicted for Stealing, Selling U.S.-Funded Malaria Drugs on the Black Market
DECEMBER 18, 2018
Two Congolese men have been federally indicted for stealing loads of malaria drugs sent to Africa by American taxpayers and selling them on the black market. It marks the latest in a series of scandals to rock a multi-billion-dollar U.S. government program that provides Africa with heaps of malaria drugs every year. For nearly a decade, millions of dollars in malaria drugs are stolen annually and sold on the black market. The government agency that operates the program, U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), knows about it yet continues to fund it. In fact, more than five years ago a mainstream newspaper published a scandalous exposé (“Thieves Hijacking Malaria Drugs in Africaâ€) detailing how organized networks steal large quantities of donated malaria drugs that end up for sale at street markets throughout Africa.
At the time, more than 20% of the American-funded malaria drugs were diverted annually, with a street value of about $60 million, according to inside government sources cited in the news story. U.S. government officials didn’t even pretend to be surprised, instead acknowledging that they have long known that malaria drugs financed by American taxpayers are regularly stolen in Africa. “This is not the first report of theft or illegal diversion,†USAID admitted in a statement years ago. As far back as 2010 drugs “intended for use in public sector clinics in several East African countries were found being sold in informal pharmacies and medicine vendors in West African countries,†the statement further said, adding that other “reports have been received since then, documenting additional instances of theft involving drugs and other malaria commodities…â€
https://www.judicialwatch.org/blog/2018/12/africans-indicted-for-stealing-selling-u-s-funded-malaria-drugs-on-the-black-market/
