NAFDAC arrests 66 drug hawkers in 10 months

<p>The National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it has arrested no fewer than 66 drug hawkers across the nation.</p>, <p>The Director-General of the agency, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this while destroying fake and expired goods in Sagamu, Ogun State, on Thursday.</p>, <p>Adeyeye, represented by the NAFDAC Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Francis Ononiwu, said 66 arrests were recorded from 50 raids across the country since January 2023.</p>, <p>According to her, antimalarials, codeine, cough syrups, aphrodisiacs, tramadol capsules, analgesics, and antibiotics worth N8 million were seized from people who hawked drugs on the street.</p>, <p>She recalled NAFDAC’s arrest of a suspect, Sunday Chibuike, who produced and sold unregistered alcoholic beverages.</p>, <p>The suspect, according to her, was concocting alcoholic drinks laced with substances suspected to be cannabis sativa and other harmful ingredients.</p>, <p>The alcoholic drink, Adeyeye disclosed, was packaged and sold as Japata Bitters in the Iyana-Ipaja area of Lagos State.</p>, <p>The NAFDAC DG urged Nigerians to shun drug peddlers and patronise registered medicine stores in order to avoid the harmful effects of unregistered drugs.</p>