Alibaba, a Chinese tech giant, has agreed to pay $600 million to settle allegations that it allowed the sale and importation of illegal pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, and pill-making equipment into the US.
Settlement Details
The US government alleged that Alibaba’s US-based payment processor, AUS Merchant Services, violated federal law by failing to prevent merchants from selling and importing illegal products into the US through Alibaba.com and AliExpress.com.
According to the settlement, Alibaba acknowledges that between January 2016 and December 2024, it failed to stop roughly 80,000 product sales involving unlawful imports that violated the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act and other federal laws.
Law enforcement officers conducted more than 40 undercover purchases of pharmaceuticals and equipment that were illegal to import into the US, leading to the non-prosecution agreement between Alibaba and the Justice Department.
Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.
