A fourth-year Engineering student from Makerere University is currently in police custody after authorities recovered a large consignment of suspected stolen medical supplies allegedly linked to him.
The student, identified as Blair Muhoozi, was arrested following an operation conducted by the State House Health Monitoring Unit in collaboration with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), local police, and community leaders.
According to Dr. Warren Naamara, the Head of Statehouse Health Monitoring Unit, the operation began after residents alerted authorities about suspicious boxes of medical supplies that had been dropped at a community collection point near the university.
Speaking about the incident, Dr. Naamara said the tip-off from community members played a key role in uncovering the suspected illegal medical supply network.
“Working with CID, police, and local leaders, we traced the supplies to an area near Makerere University and discovered a huge cache of assorted medical drugs and equipment,” Dr. Naamara said.
The recovered items reportedly included face masks, HIV testing kits, vacutainers, antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, and other medical supplies believed to be expired.
Authorities say many of the recovered drugs are intended for government health facilities and donor-supported health programs, particularly HIV treatment services.
“These drugs are meant for patients. They are not meant for sale or trafficking,” Dr. Naamara emphasized.
He further revealed that investigators have received reports indicating that some medical supplies are illegally traded across borders, while others are allegedly diverted for misuse, including being incorporated into fish feed or abused as recreational substances.
Health officials warned that the circulation of expired or illegally distributed drugs poses serious public health risks, including treatment failure and drug resistance.
“When expired drugs are returned to the market, patients may fail to improve, and this creates dangerous resistance to treatment,” Dr. Naamara noted.
The discovery has raised fresh concerns about the theft and illegal distribution of government medical supplies, as investigations continue into how the drugs were obtained and whether more individuals could be involved.
Police have not yet released additional details regarding possible charges against the student.
