Administration and Control, NAFDAC, on
Thursday paraded a generator dealer, Celestine
Eruokwu, and three others, Paul Ogbonna,
Ifeanyi Edeh and Ozoemena Odo, for importing
fake drugs worth N9m.
According to the Director General of the agency,
Dr. Paul Orhii, some other fake drugs were also
recovered at the cargo shed, NAHCO, Murtala
Muhammed International Airport, Lagos,
bringing the total value of all the seized goods to
N59.3m.
"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," Orhii said.
Investigations revealed that Eruokwu was a
generator dealer and had a shop at Idumota area
of Lagos state.
"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."
Another suspect, Odo, who is a mobile telephone
dealer, allegedly imported N31m worth of fake
drugs but declared them as telephone
accessories. He also imported empty packets of
the drugs.
His cover was however blown when the goods
were inspected.
"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," Orhii
said.
"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.
"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.
"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," Orhii said.
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