The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA has seized 1544 cartons of expired Tramadol drugs valued at over N13m.
A suspected fake drugs dealer, Uche Chinyere was also arrested in connection with the expired drugs.
Parading the suspect in Kaduna on Friday, the State Commander of the NDLEA, Samuel Azige said the suspect was arrested following a tip-off.
“NDLEA Friday in Zaria arrested a man by name Uche Chinyere. The suspect was arrested in his shop in Kano but has ware house in Zaria where he stores his goods.
“So we got intelligence on him. It took us about two months and yesterday finally got him arrested.
“The total number is 1544 cartons of Tramadol drug. It weighed over 15 tonnes of Tramadol and each of the cartons cost N9060.
“He has been in the business for long. He told us he expended over N12 million on the drugs. The most disturbing aspect is that the drugs are expired since 2014 but he is still stocking them and selling them which is very dangerous. NAFDAC has been campaigning and creating awareness on the dangers of taking expiry drugs.
“This is someone that does not have the interest of the people at heart but after making money. So he sells these drugs whether they are useful or not useful. As far as he is concerned let him make his money. That is the bottom line.
“Initially we didn’t know that the drug were expired until after we recovered the drug and we went through the sachet. It was then we discovered that the drugs have expired as far back as 2014. But the bottom line is that this man was arrested because he stored these drugs and he is not trained to handle this drug but only a pharmacist that can dispense the drugs. So he was arrested base on the fact that he was not suppose to be in possession of the drug.
“Again, you can imagine the gravity of crime the police will battle with if these have been allowed to go into the society.
“But honestly, I have to thank my officers because I must commend them for a wonderful job. They work diligently and were able to arrest this man.
“We want to thank the Kaduna state government for the logistics support we have continued to receive from them. These has also enhanced our performance and lead to the recent achievement and arrests made in the state,” he said.
However, the suspect, a patent medicine dealer said that he was planning to contact NAFDAC and NDLEA on the expired drugs before his arrest.
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