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Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 25 containers of unregistered pharmaceuticals intercepted at Apapa port to the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The Comptroller-General of NCS, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, formally handed over a total of 25 containers laden with counterfeit medications, unregistered pharmaceutical products, and prohibited substances including codeine-based preparations.
Adeniyi, lamented that these substances worth N9,235,402,973.00 pose imminent danger to public health.
According to the Customs boss, these activities represent a sophisticated network of criminal enterprises that deliberately exploit regulatory gaps to compromise our national health security.
His words: “A detailed breakdown of the seizures reveals disturbing patterns of misdeclaration and systematic attempts to circumvent established import protocols. The 25 containers comprise 21 forty-foot containers and 4 twenty-foot containers containing predominantly unregistered pharmaceutical products including sexual enhancement drugs such as REDSUN and HYEGRA sildenafil citrate products, codeine-containing cough syrups including CSC brands, antibiotic injections like oxytetracycline and artesunate, pain relief medications containing diclofenac sodium and paracetamol, and various tablets bearing fake NAFDAC registration numbers.”
“The seizures also include expired food products such as margarine and chocolate, veterinary medications including albendazole bolus tablets, antimalarial drugs like artepharm-artequick, and consumer goods such as crusader soap, reflecting a sophisticated and diversified contraband portfolio that poses significant threats to public health, consumer safety, and regulatory integrity.”
Adeniyi noted that the operational synergy Customs has developed with NAFDAC reflects strategic collaboration at its finest, with the Director-General providing critical intelligence even at midnight about suspicious importations that proves decisive to our anti-smuggling operations.
“This MOU-facilitated coordination enables swift responses to emerging threats, and I commend the Director-General and her dedicated team whose technical expertise, combined with our enforcement capabilities, has created a formidable barrier against criminal networks seeking to compromise our borders.
“As a Service, we remain committed to making our seaports, airports, and land borders impenetrable barriers against smuggling operations through our unrelenting nationwide anti-contraband initiatives. Our intelligence-led enforcement strategy, enhanced by real-time collaboration with regulatory agencies, has fundamentally transformed our operational capabilities,” Adeniyi said.
