Expired Drugs Factory Discovered n Lagos

The National Agency for Food and Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), on Thursday
said it had uncovered an illegal factory within the
Trade Fair Complex in Lagos loaded with various
expired canned food.
The agency’s Spokesman, Mr Anslem Okonkwor,
said disclosed this in a statement that the
discovery was sequel to a special raid and
enforcement operation in some markets in the
metropolis by officers of the Investigation and
Enforcement Directorate of the agency.
It said that the expired canned food were worth
millions of naira, adding that a 24-year-old man,
Victor Okeke had been arrested in connection with
the expired products.
“The factory, which was originally a one-room
shop was used to stock, re-validate and distribute
expired products, particularly, food condiments.
“Some of the expired products discovered in the
unhygienic factory included expired Maggi sauce
with manufacturing date of 15/08/2011 and expiry
date of 15/08/2014.
“Other products included Amoy Dark Soy Sauce,
Costa Corned Beef and Exeter Corned Beef among
others.
“For the Costa Corned Beef, whether expired or
not, the 24-year -old suspect, changed their labels
to Exeter Corned Beef,’’ it said.
The statement also said that the suspect revealed
that changing their labels was to attract patronage
to the Costa corned beef because it was a faster
moving brand than the name Costa in the market.
It said that Mr Shaba Mohammed, the leader of the
NAFDAC team, who addressed journalists shortly
after the exercise, revealed that the agency had
been on the trail of the alleged owner of the factory
following intelligence report on his activities in the
market.
Mohammed, an Assistant Director, Enforcement
Operations, had also revealed that the suspect,
who also claimed to be the managing director of
the factory, was caught re-validating the expiry
dates of Maggi Arome sauce and Amoy Soy sauce.
“These products were smuggled into the country
from Ghana and the expiry dates of 2014 shifted to
August 2016,’’ he said.
According to him, the products expired since
August 15, 2014.
“We have arrested the suspect and also evacuated
the remaining products in the illegal factory. We
are also charging him for counterfeiting. Some of
the products were not registered by NAFDAC.
“What we found on ground here cannot be
consumed. We saw two drums filled with ordinary
water which he uses to immerse the products and
the labels will remove without any traces and are
replaced with re-validated labels,’’ Mohammed was
quoted as saying.
He lamented that most of the re-validated products
had been pushed into the market for unsuspecting
consumers to buy.
“Consuming such products could lead to terminal
diseases such as liver and kidney diseases which
are currently on the rise in the country.
“The sauces are sodium-based products that could
lead to hypertension if consumed,’’ Mohammed
was quoted as saying.
He said that the suspect would be arraigned in
court where the products evacuated would be used
as exhibits against him.
“Every single thing that is here is dangerous to
human health,” the statement claimed.
NAN recalls that the agency in its determination to
ensure stringent punishment for counterfeiters is
currently reviewing its laws with a view to making
convicted counterfeiters of drug and food products
spend the rest of their lives in jail.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr Paul Orhii, had
declared that the current law, which stipulated a
fine of N500, 000 or 15-year jail term upon
conviction, was inadequate.
According to Orhii, the new law will also make
counterfeiting a non bail-able offence, adding that
a whistleblower clause was also included in the
new proposal. (NAN)