Alibaba to pay $600m to settle illegal drug sales allegations in US probe

E-commerce giant admitted it failed to ⁠prevent about 80,000 illegal drug product sales, according to US Justice Department.Chinese technology and e-commerce giant Alibaba and its United States-based ⁠payment processor will pay $600m to resolve allegations that they failed to prevent illegal drug sales, according to the US Justice Department.The Justice Department said on Wednesday that Alibaba and AUS Merchant Services agreed as part of the deal to accept responsibility for the acts of their officers and employees, and enhance their compliance programmes.Recommended Stories list of 3 itemslist 1 of 3US lists China’s BYD, Alibaba, Baidu as ‘Chinese military companies’list 2 of 3NBA signs AI deal with Alibaba ahead of preseason games in Chinalist 3 of 3Alibaba sues US military over labelling it a ‘Chinese military company’end of listThe companies entered into ⁠non-prosecution agreements to resolve allegations that they violated the US Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by failing to prevent merchants from selling and importing illegal drugs, chemicals and pill presses into the US through Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms.“This settlement reflects a thorough regulatory process with Alibaba’s full cooperation and our commitment to best-in-class standards of control, policies, and measures against non-compliant product sales,” Alibaba said in a statement.According to the Justice Department, Alibaba, as part of ⁠the deal, admitted that it failed from 2016 to 2024 to ⁠prevent about 80,000 product sales of chemicals, drugs and pharmaceutical counterfeiting equipment that were imported from overseas.Those transactions had a combined merchandise value of more than $200m, according to the Justice Department.Law enforcement during ⁠the probe conducted more than 40 undercover purchases of illegal pharmaceuticals and counterfeiting equipment, it said.At times, Alibaba employees raised concerns ⁠about whether illegal products were being sold and whether ⁠the company’s compliance measures were inadequate and could prevent such sales from occurring, the department said.