Customs F.O.U. “A” Confiscates 41 Containers Of Expired Pharmaceuticals Worth N1.4bn From India
Mobolaji Michael
THE Federal Operations Unit, Zone “A” of the Nigeria Customs Service has impounded a total of forty-one (41) containers of expired pharmaceuticals labeled as “Labumol” and “Libumol” a supposed analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antipyretic for pain relief.
Giving an account of how the fake drugs were intercepted to newsmen at the Command Warehouse in Ikeja, the Unit’s Acting Comptroller, Hussein Ejibunu said, the origin of the drugs found in the forty-one containers was traced to India and seized from different locations in the South West Zone.
“The expired drugs are a cumulation from September 2022 til date. The drugs have a duty paid value of One Billion, Four Hundred and Twenty-Two Million Naira with no manufacturing nor expiry dates.”
Hussein Ejibunu, however, handed over the fake drugs to Francis Ononiwu, the Director of Investigation and Enforcement of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.
Receiving the signed document of the transferred fake drugs, Francis Ononiwu thanked the Nigeria Customs Service for taking off the drugs from the society.
“If the drugs were not confiscated by the Nigeria Customs Service and enter into circulation, the owners will change the expiry date and re-label by putting the current date.
“The drugs expired in November 2021, what makes a drug potent is the active constituents which have to meet the regulatory requirements. No doubt the content in the drugs is toxic“, Francis said.
Other goods seized for contravening various sections of the extant Customs laws are: 6,228 X 50kg bags of foreign parboiled rice (equivalent to 11 trailer loads), 35,325 litres of premium motor spirit (PMS), 279 Cartons of foreign poultry products, 105 parcels (50kg) of cannabis sativa, 2 x 40 ft containers said to contain 883 bales of used clothes, and 8 units of foreign used (Tokunbo) vehicles.
The total Duty Paid Value (DPV) of all the seized items stood at Six Hundred and Ninety-Four Million, Four Hundred and Sixty-Two Thousand, One Hundred and Fifty Naira (N694,462,150.00). Also, five (5) suspects were arrested in connection with some of the goods.
According to Ejibunu, the Unit also prevented loss of government revenue to duty underpayments that either arose from the undervaluation of imported items or wrong Harmonized System (HS) code classification; to the sum of Seventy-Two Million, Six Hundred and Ninety-Three Thousand, Three Hundred and Seven Naira, Nine Kobo (N72,693,307.09) during the period under review.
“These seizures are a reflection of our commitment to duty and non-compromise in the discharge of our functions; aimed at protecting the nation’s economy and preventing the importation of prohibited and harmful products from entering our domestic markets”, Ejibunu reiterated.
Eighteen-Eleven Media
