ILLEGAL DRUG MARKET SPROUTS WHERE NAFDAC BURNT N4.7BN BANNED PRODUCTS IN ALUU DUMPSITE NEAR PH

 

By Ignatius Chukwu & Dr Helen Chimezie

When the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) made a burnfire at the Aluu dumpsite near Port Harcourt of N4.7bn worth of drugs impounded at the Onne Port in Rivers State, little did they know that they had set the stage for a big drug market that thrived around the dumpsite for weeks. Or did they know?

This is because while the fire raged at the top, black market traders knew that it would cool down and destroy the surface whereas the main drugs were intact beneath the smoke and fire.

BusinessDay painstaking investigations can reveal that a racket around the area has produced several millionaires who now supply the Garden City and nearby towns with ‘drugs’ from Aluu. Most of the newly ‘made men’ have left town to parts of the country especially the north.

BusinessDay uncovered a huge racket that seems to start with the guards at the place who issue permit to go and explore; the land owners around the area who lease out parcels to those who cart away products and hide away; to numerous cart pushers who pretend to go dump refuse but carry away cartons; to buyers who hang some distance away and buy off products; to jerrycan sellers who sell the cans that the buyers use to repackage the drugs so nobody will suspect it is not liquid but drugs; to transporters who park far away and carry escaping traders.

 

How it began:

On Friday, February 7, 2025, the South-South zone of NAFDAC carried out a destruction exercise of fake, adulterated, and expired food, medical, and cosmetic products worth N4.7bn seized within the South-South zone.

The destruction exercise which took place at the Rivers State Waste Management Agency (RIWAMA) dump site Aluu, Ikwerre Local Government Area, Rivers State, was witnessed by the South-South Zonal Director of the agency, State Coordinators of the agency, heads of sister agencies, security agencies, and the media. The customs played a big part in the destruction exercise because they seized them.

Speaking at the event, a professor, Christianah Adeyeye (as represented), who is the Director-General of NAFDAC, said the destruction exercise was not just a routine operation that the agency conducts, but it is a firm statement of the agency’s unwavering resolve and commitment to protect the lives of people from the dangers of counterfeit and substandard medicines, unwholesome food, medical devices and other hazardous regulated products.

Adeyeye, who was represented by Chukwuma Oligbu, the agency’s South-South Zonal Director, noted that the destroyed products, if allowed to circulate, could cause untold harm, including treatment failures, drug resistance, prolonged illnesses, and even loss of lives.

The DG stated that the products destroyed were made up of substandard and falsified medical products, unwholesome processed food products and food additives, unsafe cosmetics, counterfeits and other expired NAFDAC regulated products seized by the Agency from manufacturers, importers and distributors.

Also destroyed on that day were damaged and expired products voluntarily handed over by compliant companies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Association of Community Pharmacists (ACPN) and Trade Unions, to the Agency.

The drugs were destroyed by open burning at the Aluu dumpsite in the outskirts of Port Harcourt.

BusinessDay gathered that by evening of the exercise, unscrupulous actors invaded the dumpsite to retrieve the partially burnt and unburnt disposed drugs from the dumpsite, and sold them through illegal drug supply chain.

Improper disposal system:

The emergence of drug market around the burnfire has opened eyes into what many call improper disposal of counterfeit and expired pharmaceutical products. They say this has emerged as a serious public health concern, inadvertently fueling the proliferation of fake drugs in the market, despite regulatory efforts to curb the menace of counterfeit drugs.

The uncontrolled destruction of these products, particularly through open burning at dumpsites, seems to have created an unintended loophole for unscrupulous actors to recover and resell them. This may have opened investigations into the implications of improper drug disposal and has explored potential solutions to mitigate the risks.

The Issue at Hand

Globally, pharmaceutical regulatory bodies and law enforcement agencies conduct routine seizures of counterfeit and substandard drugs, which are meant to be destroyed to prevent their re-entry into circulation. However, inadequate destruction methods, such as burning in open dumpsites or haphazard disposal, leave room for these products to be salvaged and reintroduced into the market.

Investigations reveal that in many cases, such as the Aluu dumpsite, criminal networks retrieve partially burnt or improperly disposed drugs from dumpsites, repackage them, and distribute them through illegal supply chains. Various sources said this has not only led to an increase in the availability of counterfeit drugs but also undermines public confidence in the healthcare system.

BusinessDay investigation:

Investigations reveal that the buyers buy the drugs with the intention to repackage them, and re-introduce them into the market. It was also revealed that the perpetrators of this inhuman act were dumpsite scavengers and some low-level income earners.

BusinessDay mixed with the market operators and soon, the initial fierce looks of suspicion relaxed into friendship and willingness to share information to a fellow hustler.

Some of them opened up to our undercover reporter. One of them Nosa Ahmed (not real name), who witnessed the incident, said he was pained that the drugs he took from the dumpsite at about 11pm on the day of the NAFDAC celebrated destruction of seized drugs were stolen from where he hid it.

When asked how he got to know about the unwholesome turnout of event after the NAFDAC drug destruction, he narrated that about 10pm that day, he saw lots of people on the major road to the dumpsite, mostly waste scavengers, moving about with plenty of cartons. So, he decided to go to the dumpsite with his brother to understand what was going on.

On their arrival at the site, the fire had not gone down much, he narrated, but the unscrupulous actors were successfully making efforts, and gaining access to the partially burnt and unburnt pharmaceutical products. This, according to him, they did without the fear of being burnt.

He narrated that both of them (himself and his brother) carried some of the drugs using empty cement bags, but because of the fear of their bosses finding out of their act, they hid it in a farm. Before morning, he moaned, it was all stolen.

His lamentation: “Before I woke up to go and check where I hid it am, they had carried the market which my brother and I suffered to gather”, he lamented using pidgin language.

When asked if he knew the drugs were unsafe to use, he said: “They said so. They told me that it is expired but many persons are ready to buy them”.

He further revealed that he was informed by someone that people were still retrieving the drugs from the dumpsite, as at first week of March 2025.

He went on: “Fire has burnt them but not completely. The packaging and containers of the drugs had touch of fire but not completely. People use knife to cut the containers open and carry them away.”

Ahmed, when probed further, said one bag of cement of the products was being sold for N20,000, an unburnt carton of the products went for almost N200,000, depending on the product type.

On getting to the dumpsite, our correspondent saw waste scavengers numbering about 15 on the location where the drugs were set ablaze by the NAFDAC. They looked fierce and unfriendly. Photographs could not be taken at that point.

On further investigation as the atmosphere became better, another perpetrator of the act named simply as Emma decided to share his experience with our reporter. He was all smiles, saying God has really blessed him this season. He disclosed that the illicit trade fetched him a lot of money that helped to settle family bills.

Blessing from God or disaster from satan?

What seemed to go on in different minds around the area is that one man’s waste is another man’s treasure.

Cracking this puzzle and many more could lead to a better Nigeria where people may learn that such thing could not be blessing from God, according to citizens who spoke to our Reporter.

Emma, who happens to be a man in his earlier 40’s further divulged that some skilled traders around the dumpsite that benefitted from the illegal trade, had left the vicinity for fear of getting into trouble (arrest).

Emma who happens to hail from the North stressed that some of the boys around the dumpsite made as much as two million in the sale of the illicit drugs. He sounded confident and kept smiling while revealing the steps of the illicit drug market.

Speaking further, he said that nothing is wrong with the drugs. He said he took from the cough syrup when he experienced persistent cough and chest pain, saying he got better, although he noticed that the cough syrup practically dried his throat during the treatment.

On physical examination of the said cough syrup with name inscription ‘Barcadin with codeine’, our reporter saw Batch No -ILKK23-151, Manufacture date – 02/2024, and Expiring date – 01/2027. Aside the cough syrup seen by our reporter, Tramadol tablets were also sited.

Emma expressed regrets that he sold the products he retrieved too early, saying the products have become highly priced at the time of the interview with many interested buyers. According to him, he sold four complete packs of Tramadol for N50,000, now going for N100,000.

One of the scavengers near the dumpsite who pleaded anonymity said his relative who happened to be a security operative hinted him about the business, and he quickly arrived the scene the next day with his locally made garbage bin cart to carry the drugs. He said he sold it at N200,000.

He also disclosed that buyers came from Aba (Abia State), Rumuokoro (Port Harcourt), and other places to buy the products from them. He told our reporter to investigate small pharmaceutical shops around Rumuokoro, that some of the products were there.

Further investigation revealed that a prominent trader a market at SARS Road (popularly called Amaechi Market), was seriously in the illegal business.

Findings revealed that some of the illicit drugs in containers were currently being stored and transported in jerrycans. Fallow plots of land around the dumpsite were used to store the supposedly destroyed drugs.

When the NAFDAC celebrated destroying fake, adulterated, and expired food, medical, and cosmetic products worth N4.7bn, little did they know that another set of unscrupulous actors would be enriched. They simply denied one set of traders to enrich another set.

Our interactions with some pharmacists on the current method used by the NAFDAC to dispose of such drugs affirm that the method may be good but not effectively done. The officials were expected to monitor and stoke the first with fuel to ensure that the drugs burnt to ashes. It is obvious that the illicit products did not burn beyond the surface. It was also clear that no persons were assigned the duty to watch the process to satisfaction, or if such persons were delegated, they seemed to have turned to sales agents.

Odigie Joachim, the Head of Pharmacology Department, University of Port Harcourt, the monitoring of the drugs to ensure it burned to ashes is the duty of security operatives. He said failure on their part could result to the drugs being recycled back to the society.

He explained that if the NAFDAC should begin to carry the exercise out in a secured and controlled place, nobody would gain access to it, except by collusion. He however frowned at the public incineration of drugs by NAFDAC, stressing that the health risks were enormous, outweighing the benefits.

“The medical issue in respect to the public incineration of drugs will lead to the release of substances into the environment that are definitely toxic. In a place where there is acid rain, it could lead to widespread release of chemicals that could be harmful to humans, especially people staying around those areas.

“So those drugs are supposed to be buried or incinerated in closed environment, like in actual incinerations. It is not good to just put the drugs on a heap and burn them because you do not want people to have access to them. This is what is obtainable elsewhere.

“The adverse effects are enormous, because these drugs contain substances that will vapourize, travel in the air, and either be inhaled or deposited on skin, and cause long term effects, from skin issues to cancer, to lung issues, and so on”, he added.

The questions seem unending, as our reporter had to seek the view of an environmentalist, to better understand if it is even safe in the first instance to opt for open burning when destroying products of that nature.

Nbani Friday, an environmentalist, totally condemned the practice, stating that: “The burning of those drugs is very dangerous to the environment and to the people. Some of those drugs are chemicals, and by the time it is burnt, harmful gases will be released into the atmosphere”.

This, he noted, is not good for our environment, as it pollutes the air we breathe, and changes the weather pattern, thereby resulting to climate change.

Friday highlighted that climate change solution demands a collective effort. He advised NAFDAC to look for safer alternatives in disposing such drugs.

“Such drugs should be segregated, and the ones that are biodegradable can be decomposed through composting”, he advised.

Public health and economic consequences:

The consequences of counterfeit drugs in circulation are said to be dire. Fake drugs often contain incorrect dosages, toxic substances, or entirely ineffective ingredients, posing significant health risks to unsuspecting consumers. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported cases where counterfeit medicines have resulted in treatment failures, antibiotic resistance, and even deaths.

The WHO report on medication safety has indicated an alarming global consumption trend of medicines in which up to 50% were considered irrationally prescribed, dispensed or sold. This is particularly obvious in Nigeria, where medicines were easily accessed without prescription from the haphazard drug distribution network, sequel to uncoordinated or less stringent regulations.

Economically, the illegal drug trade erodes revenue from legitimate pharmaceutical manufacturers and retailers while also increasing the financial burden on healthcare systems dealing with drug-related complications.

Furthermore, pharmaceutical companies invest heavily in research and production, and the infiltration of counterfeit products devalues their efforts, discouraging innovation.

Regulatory and enforcement gaps:

One of the primary challenges in controlling this menace is the lack of strict enforcement of drug disposal regulations. Nigeria is said to lack well-defined protocols for the safe destruction of pharmaceuticals, leading to reliance on makeshift methods such as open air burning.

In some instances, corruption within regulatory agencies allows unscrupulous traders to recover and reintroduce counterfeit drugs into the market with impunity.

When NAFDAC was contacted on the development, the zonal Public Relations Officer, Cyril Monye, said NAFDAC was not responsible for the destruction. He did not mention the particular agency that handled the destruction.

The Onne Area 2 Command Public Relations Officer did not respond to inquiries despite reminders for over two weeks.

Way forward:

Experts interviewed have suggested ways to address the issue. It has been suggested that stakeholders in the pharmaceutical and regulatory sectors must implement stricter and more secure drug disposal measures. Some recommended approaches include:

High-Temperature Incineration: Establishing specialized high-temperature incineration facilities dedicated to pharmaceutical waste to ensure complete destruction.

Chemical neutralization: Using scientifically approved chemical methods to neutralize drug components before disposal.

Improved regulatory oversight: Strengthening policies and enforcement mechanisms to monitor and audit the entire drug disposal process.

Public-private collaboration: Encouraging pharmaceutical companies, government agencies, and international organizations to invest in secure drug destruction infrastructure.

Public awareness campaigns: Educating stakeholders, including consumers and healthcare providers, on the dangers of improper drug disposal and counterfeit medicines.

Stricter enforcement: Authorities should enhance monitoring and penalties for improper disposal and illegal drug sales.

Strengthening supply chain security: Ensuring proper tracking of expired drugs to prevent their re-entry into the market.

Conclusion:

Sources interviewed said the link between improper drug disposal and the booming counterfeit drug market underscores the need for urgent action. “Unless authorities take decisive measures to ensure the safe and controlled destruction of pharmaceutical waste, the public will continue to face significant health risks.”

They suggested that governments, pharmaceutical companies, and regulatory bodies must work together to close this dangerous loophole and protect public health.

Ends/