Customs hands over N9.2bn illicit pharmaceuticals to NAFDAC, bans clearance at bonded terminals

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Friday handed over 25 containers of unregistered and prohibited pharmaceutical products with a Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N9.2 billion to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).

This came as the Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi announced a ban on stemming of pharmaceutical products to bonded terminals.

Speaking at the hand over ceremony at Apapa Port, Adeniyi, said examination of all pharmaceutical products will now be restricted to only four customs commands across Nigeria, namely Apapa, PTML, Airport and Onne port.

The decision, he explained, aims to curtail the abuse by bonded terminal operators, many of whom have been implicated in the seizure of fake and unwholesome drugs.

He added that the NCS would also review the licensing process and fees for bonded warehouses, noting that many are openly violating existing Customs laws.

His words, “The fee of the license has to be such that it will be impossible for those who are not serious to own and operate a bonded terminal. So we are already in the process of reviewing the license fee. We will carry the stakeholders along and do things that will reflect current situations. The current license fees that are operational now have been in place for about a decade and no longer in tune with current realities.”

Adeniyi said the seized pharmaceutical products is a direct outcome of the strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between NCS and NAFDAC in November 2024, and the subsequent inauguration of its Implementation Committee.

“This MOU framework enables Customs and NAFDAC to conduct coordinated operations and joint investigations, systematically tracing illicit pharmaceutical sources and deploying targeted enforcement strategies against criminal networks,” the CGC stated.

He emphasized that enhanced inter-agency collaboration and intelligence sharing are yielding measurable results in protecting public health.

The seized consignment, consisting of 21 forty-foot containers and twenty-foot containers, contained counterfeit and dangerous products including unregistered sexual enhancement drugs like REDSUN and HYEGRA sildenafil citrate products.

Various codeine-containing cough syrups (including CSC brands).
Antibiotic injections such as oxytetracycline and artesunate, pain relief medications containing diclofenac sodium and paracetamol.

Others are skin lightening creams, hip and breast enlargement products and
numerous tablets bearing fake NAFDAC registration numbers as well as food products, veterinary medications and antimalarial drugs among others.

“The operational synergy we have developed with NAFDAC reflects strategic collaboration at its finest, with the Director-General providing critical intelligence even at midnight about suspicious importations that proves decisive to our anti-smuggling operations.

“This MOU-facilitated coordination enables swift responses to emerging threats, and I commend the Director-General and her dedicated team whose technical expertise, combined with our enforcement capabilities, has created a formidable barrier against criminal networks seeking to compromise our borders.

“The Nigeria Customs Service, in partnership with NAFDAC and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, remains uncompromisingly committed to the battle against merchants of death who pursue illicit profits from businesses that destroy lives and communities.

“Under the coordination of the Office of the National Security Adviser, our joint operations have resulted in the seizure of over 200 containers followed by coordinated destruction exercises, with unregistered pharmaceutical products comprising 63.7% of seizure values, highlighting the scale of threats that could have inflicted devastating damage on human lives and our social ecosystem if permitted to infiltrate our markets,” he said.

Adeniyi issued a stern warning to all stakeholders in the international trade environment, reaffirming that the NCS will maintain an uncompromising stance on regulatory compliance.

He stressed that haulage operators, bonded terminal owners, or any other trade facilitators found complicit in these illegal activities will face the full force of the law.

He said NCS has significantly enhanced its intelligence network and technological capabilities to detect and intercept prohibited items, regardless of concealment methods.

Adeniyi commended the operatives at the Apapa Port command for their vigilance and professionalism in executing the interdictions.