A Polish arms dealer orders ventilators through a broker. What could go wrong? Andrzej Izdebski has provided less than 20% of the 1,241 ventilators the government agreed to buy for about $53m; of the 200 ventilators delivered not one has reached a hospital 17 December 2020 - 11:36 Anna Koper Picture: 123RF/ANDREY MALOV
Warsaw When the coronavirus pandemic surged across Europe in April and hospitals were desperate for ventilators, Poland’s government turned to an unlikely supplier: an arms dealer.
Andrzej Izdebski has helped smuggle rifles and ammunition across borders, worked for Poland’s communist secret services, and claims to have sold dietary supplements to North Korea.