The National Agency
for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), arrested 9 suspects in
connecting with "fake" wine and beverage manufacturing factories at
Relief Market, Onitsha.
This followed a
special raid and enforcement operation of Federal Government’s ban on imported
fruit juices on Wednesday in Onitsha.
NAFDAC Head,
Investigation and Enforcement, Kingsley Ejiofor, said those nabbed were
involved in the bottling of unwholesome, counterfeit and dangerous drinks. His
words:
“We came here for a
special assignment to mop up all counterfeit and prohibited products which include
imported fruit juices, food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics, detergent and
bottled water, among others.
“We were able to
uncover illegal manufacturers of bottle, unwholesome and dangerous chemicals,
they call wine and spirits. It was so disheartening.”
Mr. Ejiofor said
that popular brands of beverages like Hennessey, 501, Johnny Walker, Red Label
whisky, Best Marula fruit cream, Pure heaven, Amarula, Baron De Vals, Eva and
J&W, among others were being faked.
According to him,
the beverages were being produced in unhygienic factories with cockroaches.
He listed items
found in the factories to include;
stoves, colourants,
plastic containers, cups, labels, corks, unidentified chemicals and recycled
bottles.
“In one of the
shops, the smell was so pungent that we could not even recover the materials
and had to destroy them right there. This is why we find the incidences of
cancer to be high in this country because we don’t know what we drink.
“I will like to use this
medium to tell people to destroy cups, plastics or bottles after use because
not doing so encourages these illegal producers,” Mr. Ejiofor said.
He further advised
retailers and consumers to issue and collect receipts for every product
purchased to enable tracking.
Ejiofor said the
arrested suspects, five men and four ladies, would be interrogated and
prosecuted. The recovered items, especially the chemicals would be taken to
NAFDAC laboratory for analysis.
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