NAFDAC seals 400 illegal pharmaceutical outfits in Lagos, Kano

LAGOS—National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control, NAFDAC, weekend shut
over 400 pharmaceutical stores over sale and distribution
of substandard, spurious, falsely labeled, falsified
counterfeit medical products, SSFFC in Lagos and Kano
states.

Disclosing this in Lagos, the Director-General of
NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, also said fake products valued at
N700 million were seized by the Federal Task Force
consisting of NAFDAC, and other stakeholders such as
the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, Nigeria Police
Force, NPC and Nigeria Customs Service among others.
Among the areas raided by the taskforce included
Idumota and Mushin in Lagos, as well as Sabon-Gari drug
market in Kano State.
Orhii noted that the operation to seal the stores and
confiscate products was code-named, ‘Operation
Porcupine’, a follow-up to ‘Operation Mamba’ in East
Africa in 2008 and ‘Operation Cobra’ which took place in
seven West African countries in 2011.

He explained that the medicines discovered included
counterfeit and expired products such as antibiotics,
aphrodisiacs with pornographic pictorials, anti-malarials,
multivitamins, endocrinals like misoprostol, expired
oxytocin injection and controlled products like Tramadol
and Diazepam.
Orhii said banned products such as Analgin injection,
condoms with unapproved pictorials and improperly
stored vaccines like Tetanus Toxoid were among the
products.
”The Tramadol Hydrochloride capsules discovered
contained 200mg as opposed to approved dosage form of
50mg,” he said.

Orhii said the crackdown was aimed at combating
pharmaceutical crime including smuggling and sale of
substandard counterfeit medicines at Sabon-Gari drug
market, Kano where SSFFC medical products were seized
and evacuated on June 24.