A generator dealer and three others were
nabbed recently for importing fake drugs worth over N9m. The National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration and Control on Thursday paraded Celestine Eruokwu, Paul
Ogbonna, Ifeanyi Edeh and Ozoemena Odo for the crime.
“Based on an intelligence
report that Eruokwu was in possession of fake Maloxine tablets, we raided his
house at 77 Mosafejo Street, Suru-Alaba, Lagos, where we recovered 90,000 doses
of Maloxine tablets with market value of over N9m. Investigations revealed that
he was a generator dealer and had a shop at Idumota area of the state,”
Director General of the agency, Paul Orhii, said adding that some other fake
drugs were also recovered at the cargo shed, NAHCO, Murtala Muhammed
International Airport, Lagos.
“He confessed that he
imported the product from China and that they are fake. Recent findings
indicate that counterfeiters of medicine now hide under the shadows of other
businesses to carry out their nefarious activities.”
According to reports, another
suspect, Odo, who is a mobile telephone dealer, allegedly imported N31m worth
of fake drugs but declared them as telephone accessories.
“We have observed that the
current trend now is to import packaging materials of popular and fast-moving
drugs such as antibiotics, injectables and anti-malaria drugs with the
intention of putting in fake products,” Orhii said.
“Also, most of these drugs
are brought as unaccompanied cargo and concealed as general commodities and it
takes the extra effort of our officers to detect them.
“We are intensifying our
surveillance and monitoring activities daily to ensure fake and unwholesome
products do not enter our country at will.”
The Punch reports:
The suspect also
imported empty packets of the drugs.
The bubble however
burst when the goods were inspected.
Orhii said, “During
routine inspection at NAHCO, our men intercepted some packages of
pharmaceutical products declared as mobile phone accessories. The clearing
agent was arrested and he led investigators to apprehend Ozoemena Odo, who came
to receive the consignment on behalf of the owners who are based in Onitsha.
“He was however unable
to give us useful information about the owners of the consignment. Some of the
drugs were 30,000 sachets of Regretone tablets which is for treating
hypertension; 10,000 packaging materials of the same ddrug, 12,000 packs of
Postinor tablets as well as Artesunate packaging materials.
“The counterfeit
medicines have an estimated market value of N31.5m.”
Orhii said counterfeiters
had continued to devise new means of importing drugs. He said because
counterfeiters had noticed that Customs officials hardly informed NAFDAC of
importation which does not involve drugs, criminals had started stuffing drugs
in imported vehicles and other goods
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