The National Drug Authority (NDA) has arrested a military officer and a health worker in a special operation targeting theft of government medicines, the authority confirmed on Friday.
The operation uncovered over 150,000 doses of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs stolen from a military health facility and intended for sale in Jinja City, NDA said in a statement.
The officer, who also serves as a laboratory technician at Kabamba Military Health Centre IV, was intercepted at a private residence in Mpumude Town. This publication has withheld his name pending his court appearance
In a related arrest, an enrolled nurse and in-charge of Makoole Health Centre II was detained for allegedly stealing 3,000 doses of antimalarials and 12,500 malaria testing kits, which she had allegedly moved to a private house for sale.
‘After arrests, our team was able to verify from hospital records and managed to link the recovered ARVs, antimalarials and malaria testing kits with the military hospital and health center store documents,’ the NDA statement read.
Both suspects are currently in police custody and face charges of illegal possession of government stores under section 296(2) of the Penal Code Act and illegal possession of classified drugs under section 27(2) of the NDP/A Act.
NDA spokesperson Abiaz Rwamwiri previously noted that some stolen ARVs were being exported to neighbouring countries, including South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Since 2019, NDA has conducted special operations to combat the theft of government medicines, recovering over Shs13 billion worth of drugs and arresting more than 60 suspects, including 40 health officials, a soldier, and a police officer.
The most recent sentencing involved a former drug dispenser at Kayunga Hospital, who received up to four years in prison for stealing over 64,800 doses of ARVs.
The NDA credited the support of the Uganda People’s Defence Forces, particularly the Deputy Director of military intelligence, Brig Abdul Rugumayo, and teams from SFC and ISO for providing access to military stores and documents that facilitated the investigation.
The authority urged the public to report suspected drug-related crimes through its toll-free line 0800 101 999, WhatsApp line 0740 002 070, or directly to NDA offices.
‘We continue to work towards breaking the cartels of drug thefts,’ the statement said.