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.