By Veronica Mrema
Every piece of cargo entering the country through an airport has an owner. But for this particular cargo, things were different.
It had come from India, loaded onto an aircraft alongside other passengers’ luggage.
It arrived at Julius Nyerere International Airport [JNIA] in Dar es Salaam, but after the plane landed, the luggage was taken through the usual process and passengers began collecting their bags.
One by one, they picked up their luggage and left. But this cargo remained. No one came to collect it. Airport officials set it aside.
As time passed and the owner failed to appear, suspicion grew. Officials decided to open one of the bags. Inside were medicines. And not just a few. There were large quantities.
For inspectors from the Tanzania Medicines and Medical Devices Authority [TMDA], who are stationed at the airport and carry out inspections as part of their daily duties, the cargo immediately attracted closer attention.
Further inspection revealed that other bags also contained medical products, including medicines and medical devices.
The cargo had grown to approximately 20 large boxes. One question stood out:
Why would someone send such a large quantity of medicines into Tanzania and then fail to come and collect it?
That suspicion prompted officials to continue inspecting the cargo. What they found raised an even bigger concern. The cargo had no permit to enter Tanzania.
One box after another was inspected. Inside were medicines used in the treatment of cancer, diabetes, hypertension, malaria, asthma, blood disorders and tuberculosis.
There were also antibiotics, male and female hormonal medicines, weight-loss medicines and medical devices used in hospitals, including surgical equipment and dental prosthetic materials.
Among the products identified were medicines associated with Ozempic/semaglutide and the GLP-1 class, which have gained significant attention for diabetes management and weight loss.
But what worried officials most was not simply the volume of products. None of them was registered in Tanzania.
WHAT IT MEANS
TMDA Director General Dr. Adam Fimbo explained that the products had not gone through the normal regulatory verification process required before medicines or medical devices can be used in Tanzania.
TMDA officially identifies Dr. Fimbo as its Director General. The cargo, he said, was worth approximately TZS 310 million.
But beyond the money is a more disturbing question What could have happened if this cargo had reached ordinary consumers?
IT IS A HEALTH RISK
For a patient, the name of a medicine, the colour of its package or information printed on the label may be enough to create confidence that the product is safe.
But for a regulatory authority, that is not enough. A medicine has to be verified.
TMDA’s regulatory process involves assessing the quality, safety and efficacy of medicines and medical devices,
including checking whether a medicine contains the required active ingredient and whether it has been manufactured according to the required standards.
Therefore, an unregistered medicine is one that has not gone through the necessary verification process for use in Tanzania, Dr. Fimbo explained.
The risk becomes even greater when such medicines are intended to treat serious diseases.
For example, if a cancer patient receives a medicine that has not been properly verified, and the product does not contain the active ingredient it is supposed to contain,
the patient may continue taking it believing that they are receiving treatment while the disease continues to progress.
In the worst-case scenario, the patient could lose their life. That is what makes the seizure at JNIA more than a story about cargo worth hundreds of millions of shillings.
It is a story about what could have reached patients if the bags had not attracted attention. M24 TANZANIA spoke to some residents about the seizure.
For Asteria Kimaso, a resident of Mabibo External, the incident was shocking.
She said the cargo was so large that, had it reached the streets, ordinary citizens could have bought and used the products without knowing that they were not registered.
“People no longer have compassion; they are looking at money instead of humanity. I commend the Government for intercepting the cargo, and those responsible should be arrested and prosecuted,” she said.
Her concern is shared by Goodluck Benson, who described the incident as disturbing but said it was reassuring to see that the cargo had been stopped before reaching consumers.
“It is a sad situation, but it is a good step to see that the cargo was stopped and seized before it reached us,” he said.
The concern becomes even more serious because ordinary consumers may not have the knowledge needed to determine whether a medicine or medical device has been properly authorised.
“If it had entered the market, we would have used it. And you should understand that it is not easy for ordinary citizens to know whether the medicine or injection they have bought has a permit, has been inspected or not. You use it and then wonder why you are not getting better,” Benson added.
ANOTHER CARGO
While investigations into the cargo seized on September 7, 2026 were still underway, TMDA intercepted another cargo two days later.
This time, the cargo consisted of injectable medicines and other medical products valued at approximately TZS 50 million.
Among the medicines seized were lignocaine, bupivacaine, adrenaline and vitamins.
Together, the two seizures represented medical products worth approximately TZS 360 million intercepted within two days.
But the financial value alone does not capture the significance of the incident.
The bigger question is how many patients could have been reached by these medicines had they entered the market unnoticed.
Where would they have ended up? A pharmacy? A hospital? A private clinic? Or in the hands of someone buying medicines directly without professional advice?
HEALTH AND PEOPLE’S LIVES
Dr. Fimbo said the fight against unregistered, falsified and substandard medical products is a daily responsibility for TMDA.
The Authority has eight zonal offices across the country and conducts inspections in different areas, while 32 legally designated entry points are staffed with inspectors responsible for monitoring medical products entering Tanzania.
Dar es Salaam remains one of the country’s major entry points because of its port, airport and inland container depots.
At JNIA, inspectors work on both the cargo and passenger sides of the airport, around the clock, in cooperation with the Police and Customs officers.
TMDA also uses intelligence information, systems linked with the other national regulatory authorities, they conduct inspections, rapid testing and joint operations with other law enforcement agencies.
In some cases, the Authority also follows the trail beyond Tanzania’s borders to establish where products originated and how they entered the country.
The scale of the cargo at JNIA also exposes another challenge: the ordinary consumer may not always know what is genuine, registered or safe.
THE INVESTIGATION CONTINUES
TMDA has already arrested five suspects in connection with the JNIA cargo, while investigations continue into the source of the products and how they entered Tanzania.
According to Dr. Fimbo, investigators obtained information from baggage identification tags attached to the cargo and are working with other authorities to trace the people behind it.
The investigation is also expected to establish how the medicines were obtained, how they were transported into Tanzania and where they were intended to be distributed.
The unregistered products will eventually be destroyed after the legal process is completed.
TMDA says the cost of destruction normally falls on the owner of the products. However, where the owner disappears, the Authority may have to meet the cost because protecting public health remains the priority.
For now, the cargo remains more than 20 boxes of medicines and medical devices abandoned at an airport.
It is evidence of how products that have not undergone Tanzania’s regulatory checks can potentially move across borders and how much depends on the vigilance of inspectors before such products reach patients.
Dr. Fimbo urged members of the public to report suspicious medicines or medical devices through TMDA offices or its toll-free number 0800110084.
Chapisha Maoni