The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has uncovered what it described as one of the largest counterfeit medicine operations in Nigeria in recent years, seizing more than 10 million doses of fake and banned drugs hidden in warehouses across Lagos State.
The discovery was announced on Monday during a press briefing in Lagos by the Director of Investigation and Enforcement at NAFDAC and Chairman of the Federal Task Force on Fake and Substandard Products, Mr Martins Iluyomade.
According to Iluyomade, the operation followed actionable intelligence gathered during a training meeting held on February 3, which raised concerns about suspicious drug storage activities around the Trade Fair to Navy area of Lagos.
Acting on the intelligence, NAFDAC enforcement officers visited the location and uncovered several warehouse structures designed to look like residential buildings but used exclusively to store counterfeit medicines. Iluyomade explained that the area was largely deserted, making it an ideal location for illegal pharmaceutical operations to evade detection for years.
Inside the warehouses, officials found massive quantities of counterfeit and substandard medicines, including injectable anti malarial drugs, antibiotics, sachet medicines, blister packed drugs, and banned pharmaceutical products. Among the seized items was Analgin, a drug prohibited in Nigeria for more than 15 years due to serious safety concerns.
Iluyomade described the discovery as deeply troubling, warning that the counterfeit drugs posed a direct threat to public health and national safety.
“These are not fake vitamins or supplements,” he said. “These are life saving medicines, including injections used in emergency situations such as cerebral malaria. When fake injections are administered in those cases, it becomes a death sentence.”
He noted that the counterfeit products were so professionally packaged that even pharmaceutical manufacturers sometimes struggle to differentiate them from genuine medicines, highlighting the growing sophistication of criminal drug networks in Nigeria.
NAFDAC estimates the street value of the confiscated drugs and cosmetics at over N3 billion. A total of eight trailers loaded with the seized items were evacuated from the warehouses during the operation.
Iluyomade described the seizure as a major breakthrough in Nigeria’s fight against fake and substandard medicines, assuring Nigerians that the confiscated products would be destroyed and would not be allowed to enter the drug supply chain.
“This is a major victory for public health in Nigeria,” he said. “These dangerous products will not reach the market.”
