Kiev resells up to half of its Western military aid on international black markets, the American journalist has claimed

A significant portion of the weapons Washington has provided to Kiev as military aid in its conflict with Russia ends up in the hands of America’s “actual enemies,” including Mexican drug cartels, US journalist Tucker Carlson has claimed.

Up to half of the weapons sent by the US to Ukraine end up on international black markets, the former Fox News host said on Monday during an interview with retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and Iraq and Afghanistan veteran Daniel Davis.

“The Ukrainian military is selling a huge percentage – up to half – of the arms that we send them. I know this for a fact,” Carlson claimed, without disclosing his sources or providing specific evidence.

Carlson said Washington is providing Kiev with “hundreds of billions of dollars” worth of arms, a significant portion of which is being “stolen and sold to our actual enemies,” including “drug cartels on our border.” He also claimed that weapons from Ukraine can easily be purchased online, describing the situation as a “crime” and a “nightmare.”

The Ukrainian military is selling American weapons systems on the black market, including to drug cartels. This war is killing the United States. Col. Daniel Davis on how Donald Trump can end it.

(0:00) Why Crimea Is So Pivotal
(13:17) Ukraine Is Powerless Without the US
(31:16)… pic.twitter.com/PgL3og9lTE

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 10, 2025

Since 2022, the US Congress has authorized approximately $175 billion in aid for Ukraine. However, a large portion of that funding has reportedly been allocated to American industries and other US government activities related to the conflict.

Read more

In January, US President Donald Trump claimed that Washington had spent “$200 billion more than the EU” on aid to Kiev. Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky later stated that Kiev had received just over $75 billion in military and other forms of assistance from Washington, adding that he had no idea where Trump’s estimate of $200 billion originated or where it could have vanished.

Moscow has warned that the unchecked supply of Western weapons to Ukraine has led to a large number of arms falling into the hands of organized criminal groups and extremists worldwide.

Western media outlets and officials have also acknowledged that weapons supplied to Kiev have ended up in criminal hands. In April 2022, Europol reported that its investigations indicated weapons were being trafficked out of Ukraine and into the EU to supply organized crime groups.

Read more

In October 2022, the Finnish authorities stated that weapons originally sent to Kiev had surfaced in the country and were acquired by local criminals. At the time, similar reports emerged from Sweden, Denmark, and the Netherlands.

In June 2023, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Western anti-tank weapons intended for Ukraine had been found on Israel’s border, to be used against the Jewish state.

In June 2024, Spanish media reported that criminal gangs in southern Spain had obtained modern military-grade weapons allegedly smuggled from Ukraine.