The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in collaboration with the Government of Benin Republic has destroyed five container loads of tramadol and other pharmaceuticals with an estimated street value worth N95 billion.
The Director General of the agency, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this yesterday while briefing newsmen in Abuja.
She listed the contraband as tamral 225 mg tablets, tamral 250 mg tablets, tramadol 120 mg capsules, tramadol 225mg tabs, and reality extra Diclofenac tablets 50 mg.
She said a team of NAFDAC officers travelled to Cotonou in Benin Republic where the destruction exercise of the five containers took place.
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“This international landmark achievement (that had never been recorded in the history of the two countries and NAFDAC) did not come without the unflinching efforts of the staff of Ports Inspection Directorate in Apapa and Seme Border,” she said.
She explained that the journey towards the destruction of the containers commenced with the intelligence report from the presidency in 2018 that some unscrupulous importers intended to ship 31 containers of unregistered pharmaceutical products including tramadol 200mg and above from India.
Adeyeye said the containers were labelled building materials and for bonded terminals. She said 21 containers were discharged at the Apapa port in Lagos, Nigeria with only two containing building materials. Five of the containers were later diverted to the Republic of Benin.
She thanked the Government of the Republic of Benin, the Nigerian Embassy in the country, the Nigeria Customs Service, and the Ghana Food and Drug Agency for supporting the agency in the fight against the misuse and abuse of drugs.
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