Investigator reveals China tried to smuggle drones into Libya under the guise of Covid-19 aid

China tried to send $1 billion worth of drones disguised as Covid-19 aid to a Libyan warlord using the help of corrupt UN officials, according to a Canadian government investigator.

New court documents accuse Chinese government officials of conspiring to conceal a billion-dollar deal to deliver 42 drones to Libyan General Khalifa Haftar through UN officials who would label the arms shipments as COVID-19 relief.

Thanks to FBI intercepts, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found alleged plots to sell Libyan oil to China and purchase drones between 2018 and 2021.

“The Chinese government appears to have approved a strategy to assist Libya in the purchase and supply of military equipment through designated and approved companies in order to conceal the direct involvement of government agencies,” the investigator said.

In April, two Libyan nationals working in Canada for the International Civil Aviation Organization, a United Nations agency, were charged with conspiring in support of the program. A preliminary hearing is expected in the spring.

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The allegations, first reported by Defense News, are part of documents filed in a Montreal court seeking orders to access the suspect men’s phones.

“The plan appears to be a deliberate attempt to circumvent then-in-force UN sanctions,” the report said.

Haftar, who received the drones, is a Russian-backed strongman who controls eastern Libya. In 2020, it unsuccessfully tried to take control of western Libya. The purpose of sending the drones was to “use the war to quickly end the war” without attracting the attention of the international community, the investigator said, adding that “the fight against the coronavirus” served as a cover.

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One of the Libyan nationals involved in the plan – Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek – was arrested, while the other, Mahmoud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, is still at large.

Court documents also accuse a U.S. citizen of involvement, but he has not been charged.

“My client pleads not guilty – he denies any wrongdoing,” said Mhaouek’s lawyer in Canada, Andrew Barbacki.

Investigators discovered a May 2020 message from Sayeh to a Chinese Foreign Ministry official requesting a meeting in Egypt between the Chinese ambassador and a Libyan military official close to Haftar, Major General Aoun Al-Ferjani.

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In the news, drones are “explicitly described in terms of weapons, attack capabilities and lethal strikes.”

Investigators are not sure whether the transaction took place or whether the talks failed.

Italian authorities said in July they had seized Chinese military drones that were flying to Benghazi, Libya, in violation of the UN embargo.