The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has uncovered a massive counterfeit drug syndicate in Lagos State, seizing more than 10 million doses of fake and prohibited medicines in what it described as one of the most extensive operations of its kind in recent years.
Addressing journalists in Lagos, NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement and Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Fake and Substandard Products, Mr Martins Iluyomade, said the bust followed actionable intelligence generated during a security and enforcement meeting held on February 3, which flagged suspicious movements around the Trade Fair–Navy axis.
“Based on intelligence from that meeting, our officers moved into the area and discovered several warehouse facilities disguised as residential buildings but used exclusively for storage.
“The location is largely deserted, which likely allowed the operators to function unnoticed for a long time,” Iluyomade said.
A search of the premises revealed huge volumes of counterfeit and banned pharmaceutical products, including injectable anti-malarials, antibiotics, sachet medications, blister-packed drugs, and Analgin, a painkiller that has been outlawed in Nigeria for more than 15 years.
Iluyomade described the discovery as deeply alarming.
“What we found should concern every Nigerian. These are not harmless fake supplements. Many of the products are critical, life-saving medicines, including injections used in emergencies such as severe malaria. Administering fake drugs in such cases can be fatal,” he said.
He noted that the counterfeit products were produced with a high level of sophistication, making them extremely difficult to detect.
“In many cases, even the original manufacturers struggle to differentiate the counterfeits from genuine products. That is how advanced these criminal networks have become,” he added.
According to NAFDAC, the estimated street value of the seized drugs exceeds N3 billion. Eight truckloads of assorted fake medicines and cosmetics were evacuated from the warehouses during the operation.
