FACT CHECK | Ukraine does not sell off half of US arms to Mexican drug cartels

The website Objektiiv calls „fact“ the claim by US propagandist Tucker Carlson that the Ukrainian military sells up to half of the weapons systems it receives in US aid to drug cartels. Carlson provides no evidence for his claim. The information has been refuted by Ukraine, the US, as well as numerous public records.„The fact is that the Ukrainian military is selling off up to half of the US weapons systems it has received in aid,“ Tucker Carlson said. Among other things, these weapons end up in the hands of Latin American drug cartels. (…) Both Carlson and Davis agreed that the war is already lost for Ukraine. On the subject of arms trafficking, Carlson added that US security agencies, such as the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA – ed.), know all about the arms trafficking referred to and benefit from it,“ wrote Objektiiv on 12 February.„What makes the anchor particularly angry is the fact that the United States sends tens of millions of billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine, and the Ukrainian side sells them off to direct enemies of the United States (…) Both sides thought that the Ukrainian regime was not a democracy, but a tyranny,“ Objektiiv added.„Tucker Carlson: Ukraine sells US-supplied arms to Mexican drug cartels. A large part – up to half – of the arms we send them. And that’s not my speculation. It’s a fact,“ wrote user Steven Alber on Facebook on February 11.In total, the posts have been shared 125 times, according to Facebook.Facts Tucker Carlson has not provided any evidence to support his claims.International audits monitoring the movement of arms have found no evidence of systematic diversion of arms to the black market.The allegations made by Carlson are part of a Russian propaganda narrative aimed at discrediting Ukraine’s defence cooperation with Western countries.On 10 February, Tucker Carlson posted on X his „The Tucker Carlson Show“ with retired US Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Davis. One of the topics on the show was „Ukraine Selling American Weapons to Cartels“.Starting in the 31st minute of the show, Carlson said that „up to half“ of the US weapons sent to Ukraine are sold off on the black market by Ukraine to drug cartels. He also claimed that „the CIA is profiting from this“.Carlson did not provide any evidence for his claims, but nevertheless called his claim a fact: „This is a crime. Our intelligence agencies are fully aware of it. Do you really think they’re not profiting from this? Of course, they are. You think the CIA isn’t involved? Yes, they are. I can’t prove it, but I believe it,“ Carlson said.Such allegations have been steadily spreading since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This is a Russian strategic narrative aimed at discrediting Ukraine, its government, and its army to reduce military aid to Ukraine.Already in 2022, Russian propaganda networks and state television disseminated dark web advertisements of fake arms sales as ’proof’. In fact, the advertisements originated from pro-Russian Telegram channels, and the photos of the weapons date back to 2014, before the start of full-scale war. The photos of the weapons were taken in Syria, among other places.Russia has been spreading this narrative in the international arena. For example, in October 2023, a Russian diplomat at the UN Security Council said that a fifth of the Western weapons sent to Ukraine were black-marketed for resale to terrorists and rebel groups. He did not provide any evidence for this.The US, Ukraine, and other countries use rigorous auditing measures to monitor military aid, controlling the use and movement of weapons. So far, no country has reported the kind of misuse of weapons that Carlson alleges.Carlson’s allegations also contradict a recent statement by Keith Kellogg, the US administration’s special envoy for Ukraine-Russia.Kellogg told Newsmax that the US has allocated more than $174 billion to Ukraine, which is being monitored by US auditors. Kellogg added that some of the money has been invested in the US domestic arms industry to help meet Ukraine’s defence needs. „We have put inspector generals on the ground in Ukraine and here to track that money. So, we have fairly good reporting on where it’s going,“ Kellogg said.Ukraine Oversight is the official US government website that monitors US military aid. Reports show that while some weapons have gone missing in combat zones, there is no evidence of significant arms sales on the black market.A Harvard International Review report published in the summer of 2024 states: „The invasion of Ukraine has led to a larger quantity of weapons entering Europe, and thus a greater possibility for weapons to go missing. Since 2022, there have been sporadic reports of small and large arms being stolen in Ukraine.“For example, in 2022, a Russian-led criminal organization operating in Ukraine reportedly stole at least one grenade launcher, a machine gun, and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition to sabotage and destabilize Ukraine’s efforts to secure the region. „Although it is difficult to confirm when and where weapons are stolen, the sheer scale of weapon transfers means that it is highly likely that some weapons will go missing over the course of the conflict,“ the report says.„However, when examining the extent to which illicit weapons are being used or sold in Ukraine, it is important to acknowledge the massive amount of Russian disinformation about these weapons. Russia has been working within the United Nations to spread disinformation about the state of weapons being sold to Ukraine by the United States and other Western nations,“ the report says.The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) has also refuted Russian propaganda claims about „Finnish gangsters, French rioters, Nigerian fighters, and Mexican cartels“ allegedly obtaining arms from Ukraine.The Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post investigated the arms sent by the US to Ukraine and the likelihood of them reaching the Mexican cartels. The newspaper found that there is no evidence that US arms have reached Mexico via Ukraine. Most of the 2024 military aid consisted of artillery shells, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and HIMARS and ATACMS missile systems, none of which are useful to the cartels.There are also no reports of US heavy artillery systems being deployed by Mexican criminal organisations.Tucker Carlson consistently and systematically spreads Russian strategic narratives and lies about Ukraine.Verdict: False. Despite Carlson’s claim that his allegation is a fact, neither he nor any independent source has provided any evidence to support the allegations of Ukraine’s widespread black market arms sales. The US and its allies apply strict monitoring of the movement of arms, and have not identified any targeted sale of arms on the black market. This disinformation is part of a Russian propaganda narrative aimed at undermining confidence in Ukraine.