Counterfeit medicines: 250 tonnes seized in the CEMAC zone, clandestine laboratory dismantled in Mbouda

More than 250 tonnes of medical products were seized between 2020 and 2025 in the six countries of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), according to a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) produced in collaboration with the World Health Organization and the CEMAC Commission, as reported by Les Dépêches de Brazzaville on October 17, 2026.

The trend is sharp: annual seizures rose from approximately 5 tonnes in 2020 to 116 tonnes in 2024. And these figures only measure intercepted products. The counterfeit goods seized between 2020 and 2024 are valued at nearly 17 million euros, a figure that does not reflect the true size of the clandestine market.

Antibiotics, vaccines, cancer drugs

The trafficking covers three distinct realities, the UNODC details: falsified products, medicines imported outside of regulatory procedures, and authentic medicines stolen or diverted from public health facilities. The products involved are not minor goods: they include antibiotics, vaccines, certain cancer drugs, and pharmaceutical opioids like tramadol.

Cameroon is presented as the primary point of concern. A clandestine laboratory was dismantled in Mbouda, in the West region, where expired products were being repackaged and fraudulent preparations were being manufactured. A portion of this production reportedly entered export channels via the port of Douala, according to the report.

When the looting of a dispensary funds a war

This is the most political aspect of the report. In the Central African Republic, the armed groups 3R and UPC are described by the UNODC as being involved in the looting of health facilities and the resale of medicines on informal markets, an activity that reportedly helps fund their operations. Medicine thus ceases to be a health commodity and becomes a resource for war.

The demand is also fueled by dependency. The UNODC cites studies in which 17% of former Boko Haram combatants interviewed in the Lake Chad basin stated they regularly consumed psychotropic substances, particularly tramadol, while they were members of the group.

What the authors are calling for

The report calls for strengthened cooperation between health services, customs, security forces, judicial authorities, and medicine regulators. However, it primarily points to two levers of sovereignty: developing regional pharmaceutical production and making essential medicines truly accessible through official channels.

This is indeed the heart of the problem. As long as an antibiotic remains too expensive or unavailable in pharmacies, the street will remain the pharmacy of the poorest—and the trafficking, a profitable business.