The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated over 10 million doses of fake malaria drugs and cosmetic products valued at about N3 billion following an enforcement operation conducted at the Trade Fair Market in Lagos.
The agency confirmed that the operation was carried out after it received credible intelligence on February 3 about the storage of the fake drugs in the market.
The NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Dr Martin Iluyomade, told journalists on Monday at the agency’s office in Apapa, Lagos , that the affected items comprised drugs and injections some of which had been banned for over 15 years in the country.
He explained: “The fake drugs discovered included anti-malaria drugs and injections for cerebral malaria, antibiotics, Postinor and Analgin products that have been banned for almost 15 years in the country, among others.”
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Iluyomade also disclosed that eight truckloads of fake drugs and cosmetic products were evacuated from a three-storey building that was disguised as a spare parts warehouse, which was uncovered during a targeted operation based on intelligence reports, describing the discovery as one of the agency’s most significant breakthroughs in recent times.
The Director further clarified: “What we saw in the warehouse is one of the major discoveries by the agency of late. They have perfected the act of hiding drugs in unconventional places that you don’t expect to find such products,” he said.
“These medicines were packed in alarming numbers inside this warehouse, different types, life-saving drugs that are very important and banned products that have been prohibited for years by NAFDAC”, he added.
Iluyomade confirmed that four individuals had been arrested in connection with the operation and that investigations were still ongoing to identify other members of the syndicate behind the cloned seized drugs.
According to him, as the drugs are cloned it makes it quite difficult for the authorised manufacturers to identify the original and fake drugs, describing the findings as quite disturbing
He maintained that the discovery was not a major breakthrough for NAFDAC alone but for Nigerians, because what was seized from the warehouse can kill three million Nigerians if it enters the markets.
He assured the public that the NAFDAC team would not relent in its efforts to rid the country of fake and harmful products.
