The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has seized 10 trucks loaded with fake, expired and falsified drugs at the Ogbo-Ogwu Bridge Head Market in Onitsha, the commercial city of Anambra State.
NAFDAC uncovered the fake drugs at the various shops in the market during an ongoing enforcement exercise.
According to the agency, the market comprising several buildings and shops, served as a hub for repackaged and revalidated expired medicines, which would later be sold to unsuspecting consumers.
Speaking to journalists on the fifth day of the exercise on Friday, the operatives of the agency, led by the Director, NAFDAC South-East Zone, Dr Martins Iluyomade, said the seized trucks would be moved to the agency’s control room for further checks and onward destruction.
Iluyomade said, “We have moved no fewer than 10 trucks fully loaded 40-foot containers of fake, substandard and adulterated drugs out of the market. Some of these drugs also have spurious NAFDAC approval claims.
“We were able to decode these claims because we came with our detecting machines and scanners. Seized drugs consisted of expired, banned, substandard, deflective, repackaged and recalled products.
“And these drugs are very sensitive and can lead to death or permanent disability of the consumer. The seizure of the products is to eliminate the risk of their reintroduction into the market and a proof of the agency’s resolve to safeguard the health of the people.”
Iluyomade said some of the drug dealers had machines used to rebrand, repackage and alter the expiry dates of drugs and other medical materials.
He explained that several individuals were arrested during the raid, disclosing that a sum of N135m bribe was rejected by the NAFDAC officials.
“Over 90 per cent of shops so far investigated in the market are dealing in fake, substandard, repackaged and counterfeited drugs. If we reveal what we have seen so far in the market, it would be totally shut down,” he added.
