The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has disclosed that it has destroyed tramadol 200 MG and above with unregistered pharmaceuticals supplies in the Benin Republic.

The NAFDAC Director General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this at a press briefing on Monday said the destruction was done in December 2022 after four and half years of monitoring with the help of the government, adding that the street value of the drugs was estimated at N95 billion.

Adeyeye said: “Following an intelligence report from the Presidency, the Director-General of NAFDAC in August 2018 directed the Director of Ports Inspection Directorate, Prof Samson Adebayo on the intention of some unscrupulous importers to ship 31 containers of unregistered pharmaceutical products including tramadol 200mg and above from India. The containers were labelled building materials for bonded terminal.

“The Director, Ports Inspection Directorate, working with his Intelligence & Monitoring Unit commenced the surveillance and monitoring of the reported containers from the ports of loading to the successive ports where they were transloaded along the sea routes.

The first approach was to collaborate with the Nigeria Customs Service. Eventually, twenty-one of the containers were discharged at the Apapa port in Lagos, Nigeria as manifested. One container couldn’t be tracked because of a missing container number. Out of the 21 containers, only two had building materials.

“However, as the importers of the containers became aware that NAFDAC was tracking and monitoring the containers on arrival at the Apapa port and intercepting them, they decided to change their strategy by diverting the remaining away from the Nigerian port. Four containers never got to Nigeria but were discharged at transhipment in Malaysia.”