CUSTOMS DESTROY N12.8bn ILLICIT DRUGS IN LAGOS
The Nigeria Customs Service, on Thursday 15 June 2023, destroyed 96 containers of various illicit and expired drugs worth N12.8bn in Lagos State.
Addressing journalists in the Epe area of the state during the destruction of the contrabands, the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Adonye Dappa-Williams, said the goods were brought for destruction after court condemnation.
Dappa-Williams asserted that destroying the illicit products would deter their importation and consumption and warned that the importers of these products would soon be subjected to the full force of the law.
A total of 16 brands of illicit and expired drugs brought for destruction included tramadol tablets, codeine cough syrup, diclofenac tablets and injections, pramo sex, yagra tablets, black cobra tablets, sildenafil citrate tablets and Chaka pain extra tablets, mebendazole tablets, royal chest lung tablets, Dr. ibramol tablets, omeprazole capsules, and cotrimoxazole tablets, diavita loperamide capsules, diarrhoea stop, and chlorpheniramine malfate capsules.
Speaking further, Dappa-Williams said, “We also have other products that failed to meet the statutory import guidelines for destruction. The aforementioned items have all been condemned by courts of competent jurisdiction with a duty paid value of N12.9bn”
He reiterated that the harmful effects of these illicit items on our society cannot be overemphasized as it had destroyed countless lives of youths, and families and led to an upsurge in crime in society.
Also speaking, NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate Officer, Jemila Ashiru, explained that “most of these products are not registered.
“Some of these products are unregistered, some are banned, and all that. We also have a legal department for the people arrested. So the legal department is processing it, so hopefully, very soon there will be prosecution and we will all hear about that.” she said.
Comments