NAFDAC: Unending war against fake drugs importation

[Mirror]

Against a backdrop of global concern on the menace of fake drugs on national development and healthcare delivery, ANSLEM OKONKWOR, in this piece, looks at efforts by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC,to combat the activities of syndicates specialising in producing and shipping fake drugs into the country from China

It was the end of the road for Mr. Olisaemeka Osefor who claimed to be representing a cartel of drug counterfeiters based in China. According to Olisaemeka, the cartel specializes in the production and shipment of various fake and counterfeit drugs into the Nigerian market.

Just like the popular saying, "everyday i for the thief and one day for owner of the house", Olisaemeka was caught in the act recently by NAFDAC. He and his gang were said to have successfully produced and shipped various brands of fake drug products worth more than N106, 210 million into the country.

But fate played a fast one on them following a tip –off that led operatives of the Enforcement and Investigation Directorate of the agency to raid a warehouse at Progressive Traders Market known for the sale of jewelries and cosmetic products within the Trade Fair Complex on Badagry Expressway, Lagos.

The fake products were said to have been deliberately packed in plain cartons and wrapped in sack to conceal their identities and deceive the public. Curiously and of particular note was that of Neurogesic Ointment which was labelled as manufactured in Nigeria even when it was imported. Some of the counterfeit drugs discovered and impounded included Skineal Cream (158cartons x10 x 24 x 15g), Funbact-A cream (43cartons x 30 x 12 x 30g), Mycoten Cream(719cartons x 40 x 10 x 20g), Neurogesic Ointment (131cartons x 40 x 10 x 35g),Rough Rider Condom (56cartons), Iman Luxury powder (20cartons) and Heal balm(205cartons) among others. Sadly, hospital reports have shown that hundreds of Nigerians lose their lives daily to activities of these drug counterfeiters.

The sad story of one time beneficiary of Kanu Heart Foundation is still fresh in the minds of many Nigerians, who read the report of how the late beneficiary died after a fake drug was unknowingly administered on him shortly after a life- threatening heart surgery.

Every year, fake drugs worth billions of naira are seized by NAFDAC, unfortunately, despite the activities of the agency to earnestly rid the country of fake drugs; some Nigerians have continued their nefarious activities unabated.

Just recently, the agency destroyed fake drugs and others valued at N145, 969, 606 inMakurdi. Other raids and visits to about 12 suspected locations in Lagos for fake drugs had led to the arrest of 14 persons in the last one month.

However, the case of Olisaemeka is just one of the many that the regulatory body had tackled across the country in recent times. Fake drug is now a common place in the country. But in the last few months, NAFDAC has stepped up its surveillance and enforcement activities to rid the country of fake drugs and other unwholesome products regulated by it. It is instructive to note that the agency has in the past four years of the current management evolved many strategies against counterfeiting of drugs.

Parading Olisaemeka before the media and the public at the agency's office in Oshodi, Lagos, the Director-General of NAFDAC, Dr.Paul Orhii, described his arrest as among one of the ground breaking efforts the agency has made in recent times. In view of the magnitude of the offence, NAFDAC according to the Director-General has sampled the drugs against the suspect preparatory for his prosecution when investigations are concluded. While condemning drug counterfeiting which he described as worst than armed robbery and other crimes, Orhii said that "latest findings had proved drug counterfeiters now operate from markets that deal on other commodities to shield their dubious activities from law enforcement agencies".

But he had a strong message to those he described as the merchants of death that NAFDAC was more than prepared to rid the nation of fake and unwholesome drugs, as he maintained that there will be no sacred cow in the fight against drug counterfeiting and warned that anybody arrested will be prosecuted according to the extant laws of the land.

Acknowledging that the agency cannot win the war alone, Orhii solicited the support and cooperation of all Nigerians to join the NAFDAC to combat the activities of drug counterfeiters.

To this end, the agency has pledged to reward in monetary terms any member of the public, landlord and market union whose report can lead to uncovering of any suspicious activity relating to NAFDAC regulated products within their communities, while promising that such information will be treated with ultimate confidentiality. Reiterating that China remains a problem in the fight against fake drugs in Nigeria, Orhii threatened that NAFDAC will begin prosecution of owners of warehouses used in stocking fake drugs. "It is imperative also to mention that landlords of warehouses stocked with fake drugs and other sub-standard products will henceforth be arrested and prosecuted as accomplices" he warned.

Corroborating his views, the Director of Enforcement, NAFDAC, Mr.Garba Macdonald said his officers will continue intensive surveillance to consolidate on the achievements so far that had led to series of arrests of the syndicate importing fake drug products into Nigeria .

He revealed that his directorate was investigating many petitions of unwholesome activities of some importers and promised that no efforts will be spared to flush them out of the distribution chain. However, Olisaemeka has confessed to be in business with a cartel based in China, where the fake products were sourced and stored in their warehouse before being shipped to Nigeria. He has also admitted that they have some other collaborators in Tin Can Island port, where they illegally cleared the consignment on arrival into the country.

National Mirror