Customs Hands Over ₦9.2bn Worth of Fake Drugs, Hips, Breast Enlargement Products to NAFDAC

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has officially handed over 25 containers of unregistered and counterfeit pharmaceutical products—including hip and breast enlargement items—to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in a major crackdown on illicit drug imports. Valued at ₦9.2 billion, the seized containers also included skin-lightening creams, sexual enhancement pills, antibiotics, codeine-based cough syrups, and tablets carrying fake NAFDAC registration numbers, with most shipments originating from India.

At the handover event, Comptroller-General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the operation followed intensified collaboration with NAFDAC, made possible by a Memorandum of Understanding signed in November 2024. He credited the resulting implementation committee with enabling coordinated investigations and enforcement actions that have disrupted criminal supply chains.

Adeniyi stressed that the 25 seized containers—comprising 21 forty-foot and four twenty-foot units—contained products that pose serious risks to public health. Items confiscated included REDSUN and HYEGRA (sildenafil-based sexual enhancers), CSC codeine syrups, injectable antibiotics like oxytetracycline and artesunate, painkillers containing diclofenac and paracetamol, and cosmetic products branded as GBOGBONISE and SKIN CHEMIST. Also seized were expired food items such as margarine and chocolate, anti-malarial medicines including Artepharm-Artequick, and veterinary drugs like albendazole tablets.

He condemned attempts by importers to misdeclare these items in order to bypass regulation, describing such actions as deliberate and dangerous. Commending NAFDAC for providing critical intelligence—often shared late at night—Adeniyi praised the agency’s vigilance and technical capacity in protecting the public.

He also highlighted that coordinated enforcement efforts led by the Office of the National Security Adviser have resulted in the seizure of over 200 containers, with unregistered pharmaceuticals making up 63.7 per cent of the total value. Adeniyi reaffirmed the Customs Service’s commitment to intelligence-led operations and collaboration with regulatory bodies, including the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to block the entry of harmful products into Nigeria.

He warned that if these products had reached the market, they would have had grave consequences for individual health and national safety.