The Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi on Friday led the Controller of Apapa Port Command, Babatunde Olomu and other top officers of the service to hand over 25 containers of unregistered pharmaceuticals and unwholesome drugs seized at the Apapa Port to the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The 25 containers laden with various prohibited substances including codeine-based preparations, with total street value of N9.23 billion were handed over to NAFDAC as required by the agencies establishing acts.
While handing over the contrabands, the Adeniyi said the unending incidents of heavy importation and smuggling of illicit, substandard and expired medications into Nigeria represented a sophisticated network of criminal enterprises that deliberately exploit regulatory gaps to compromise the country’s health security.
He noted that 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 four 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,” Adeniyi said.
“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.”
The Customs CG however, assured that the service remained committed to making the seaports, airports, and land borders a nightmare for smugglers and criminal importers.
“We have made our ports and 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.
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,” he assured.
