NAFDAC Uncovers Empty Alcohol Bottles Stockpiled For Fake Drink Production

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has discovered more than 100 sacks of empty alcoholic beverage bottles in a residential building in Lagos, suspected to have been stockpiled for the production of counterfeit drinks.

The bottles were found at 322B Meiran Road, Agbado Oke-Odo, during an operation by the agency’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate.

NAFDAC said the recovered bottles were destroyed to prevent their reuse in the production of fake alcoholic beverages.

In a video released by the agency on Friday, an Assistant Director in the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, Kunle Ojo, said the operation was launched following credible intelligence about activities at the location.

Ojo explained that the building was situated in an isolated residential area where various materials, including empty bottles of different sizes and brands, had been kept under tarpaulins.

“On arriving, we saw different kinds of bottles stacked in this place. These are bottles covered with tarpaulins,” he said.

He noted that some of the bottles bore the labels of alcoholic beverage brands, adding that they were of different sizes.

According to Ojo, the bottles were suspected to have been gathered for supply to individuals involved in the production of counterfeit alcoholic drinks.

“What these people are planning to do, or what they do here, is to watch the bottle supply to different suspected counterfeiters to be used for another production,” he said.

The NAFDAC official criticised the use of residential buildings for activities suspected to be linked to counterfeit production, stressing that the agency’s intervention was necessary to protect public health.

“This is a residential area, and this is not acceptable to government. We are here to safeguard the health of the nation,” he said.

Ojo called on Nigerians to alert the nearest NAFDAC office whenever they notice suspicious activities in their communities, saying public cooperation would help the agency tackle the production and distribution of counterfeit products.

“We are calling on all women in Nigeria, please, when you see something taking place in your area, kindly notify the nearest NAFDAC office so that we can stop this menace, so that we can save our country from all these counterfeiters,” he added.