The World Customs Organization (WCO) and IRACM unveiled, on January 20, 2017, on the occasion of a media breakfast the results of Operation ACIM.
From left to right:
Jean-David Levitte, Ambassador of France and Chairman of the Board of IRACM
Ana B. Hinojosa, Director, Compliance and Facilitation, WCO
Bernard Leroy, Director of IRACM
Quentin Duteil, Chargé de mission, Fondation Chirac
Operation ACIM at a glance 113 million illicit and potentially dangerous pharmaceutical products were seized
Dates
From 31 August to 14 September 2016
3 days of training in Mombasa, Kenya, followed by 10 days of customs interception from 5 to 14 September 2016.
Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo.
16 sea ports
16 seaports of South, Weast and East of Africa recognized as the major ports of entry of commercial products
Luanda, Cotonou, Douala, Matadi, Libreville, Tema, Abidjan, Mombasa, Maputo, Walvis Bay, Lagos, Pointe Noire, Dakar, Durban, Dar es Salam, Lomé
Interception
Overall, 128.999.109 units of all types of goods had been intercepted. Illicit and/or counterfeit health products account for almost 98% of the units intercepted. Among the health products, were seized:
- 113 millions of medicines (including 247.900 veterinary products)
- 13 millions of health supplements
- 5,000 medical devices
Among the medicines uncovered by the African customs officials, most were essential treatments: antimalarial drugs, anti-inflammatories, antibiotics, and analgesics, but also 2 million doses of anti-cancer drugs.
The biggest interceptions were in Nigeria, Benin, Kenya, Togo and Namibia.
Origin
Most of intercepted shipments came from India (75%) or China (25%).
In 4 operations, nearly 900 million pharmaceutical products seized – an alarming figure!
Since 2012, the four large-scale operations led in the major African sea ports (ViceGrips 2, Biyela 1, Biyela 2 and ACIM) have led to the interception of nearly 869 million counterfeit or illicit medicines, of an estimated value of €400 million. All these potentially dangerous medicines have been withdrawn from the market instead of being sold to the African populations.
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