The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has handed over 25 containers loaded with unregistered and counterfeit pharmaceutical products valued at ₦9.2 billion to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, made the disclosure during a press briefing on Thursday, noting that the seized shipments—mostly from India—contained dangerous and unapproved items including sexual enhancement drugs (REDSUN, HYEGRA), codeine-based cough syrups (CSC brands), antibiotics (oxytetracycline, artesunate), painkillers (diclofenac, paracetamol), skin-lightening creams (GBOGBONISE, SKIN CHEMIST), breast and hip enlargement products, and tablets bearing fake NAFDAC numbers.
Also found in the seized containers were expired food items like margarine and chocolate, veterinary medicines including albendazole bolus tablets, antimalarial drugs such as Artepharm-Artequick, and consumer goods like Crusader soap.
The handover, Adeniyi said, is part of a renewed inter-agency collaboration between Customs and NAFDAC, strengthened by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in November 2024. He noted that the MoU has enabled coordinated enforcement actions, joint investigations, and intelligence-sharing aimed at tracing the sources of illicit pharmaceuticals and dismantling the criminal syndicates behind them.
“These seizures reflect a disturbing trend of misdeclaration and deliberate attempts to evade regulatory scrutiny,” Adeniyi said, while praising the operational synergy with NAFDAC. “We are committed to tightening security across ports, airports, and land borders using intelligence-led operations and real-time collaboration.”
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He commended the NAFDAC Director-General and her team for their unwavering support, noting that some of the critical alerts used in intercepting shipments were received late at night. Their technical expertise, he said, has been vital in identifying and confirming illegal consignments.
Adeniyi further assured the public that the Nigeria Customs Service, working closely with NAFDAC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), will continue to confront and dismantle smuggling rings that deal in harmful and unapproved products.
“These are not just smugglers; they are merchants of death,” he said. “And we will not allow them to compromise the health and safety of Nigerians.”
According to him, joint operations coordinated by the Office of the National Security Adviser have led to the seizure of over 200 containers, with unregistered pharmaceutical products accounting for 63.7 percent of the total seizure value.
He warned that, had these shipments reached the market, they would have posed severe consequences for human life and the nation’s social fabric.
Issuing a stern warning to stakeholders in the international trade chain, Adeniyi said the Nigeria Customs Service, in continued partnership with other relevant agencies, will maintain an uncompromising stance on regulatory compliance.
He stressed that anyone found to be complicit—including haulage operators, bonded terminal owners, and other trade facilitators—would face the full force of the law.
He added that with significantly enhanced intelligence and technology systems, Customs is now fully capable of detecting and intercepting prohibited goods regardless of concealment tactics or documentation.
The Comptroller-General also applauded the officers of the Apapa Port Command for their vigilance, professionalism, and commitment, which were instrumental in executing the seizures.
He said the handover ceremony stands as a symbol of the shared commitment to safeguarding national health and security, assuring that through sustained collaboration, intelligence exchange, and strategic enforcement, Nigeria’s borders will remain protected from criminal threats targeting public safety.