Angola Customs Agents Find Vast Store of Fake Malaria Drugs in China Shipment

In June of 2012, Angola Customs agents conducting a routine search of cargo shipped from China, they found 1.4 million packets of counterfeit Coartem, a Malaria medication produced by Novartis. The resulting seizure of fake drugs would have, if genuine, been enough to treat over half of Angola’s annual Malaria patients.

Who: Angola Customs Service.

When: June 2012.

Where: Luanda, Angola

How: Customs search of product shipment from China.

Additional details: The counterfeit drugs were concealed inside Chinese-made speakers. Originally shipped from Guangzhou in southern China, the drugs were hidden amongst items intended for trade at Luanda’s public markets. No arrests have been made.

Related sources:

“ Africa’s Malaria Battle: Fake Drug Pipeline Undercuts Progress,” Wall Street Journal. May 29, 2013.

“ Bogus methamphetamine, bogus weed, and now, bogus malaria meds,” The Examiner. May 29, 2013.

“ Fake Drug Pipeline Undercuts Malaria Progress,” China Digital Times. May 29, 2013.