The Nigeria Customs Service has intercepted 11 containers laden with unregistered sex enhancement drugs, expired food products, and other contraband items with a combined duty-paid value of N921 million at the Apapa Ports between January 2025 and April.
Addressing journalists during a press briefing on Wednesday at Apapa, Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that the seizure included five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers, and four additional consignments of loosely concealed contraband, bringing the total to 11 containers.
“These 11 containers comprised five 40-foot containers, two 20-foot containers, and four additional seizures of loosely concealed contraband items, with a total duty paid value of N921m,” he stated.
Adeniyi noted that five of the containers were loaded with sex-enhancement drugs, warning that such substances posed a significant threat to public health and could result in mass casualties if allowed into local markets.
Providing specifics, the Customs boss detailed the contents of each container:
“The first 40ft container had 89 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products, while the second 40ft container carried 242 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products.
“The third 40ft container had 1,001 cartons and packages of hydra-sildenafil citrate tablets. These are also lacking requisite NAFDAC registrations. The other 40ft container had 1,400 packages of chest and lungs beta plus big booty tablets, also unregistered. The fifth 40ft container had 805 packages of unregistered products.
“This one was falsely declared as a cosmetic powder. Then we also have a 20-foot container, which has expired margarine products. We have another 20ft container which has expired margarine products, 60 units of warrior drones,” Adeniyi explained.
He raised concerns about the presence of military-grade equipment, including drones, noting that the consignments lacked proper documentation, particularly the End User Certificate from the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“We also intercepted another 53 units of different helicopter drones. These drones were intercepted for lack of an End User Certificate, and it has a duty-paid value of N2.1m. We have 10 pieces of professional FM transceiver walkie-talkies. These are communication devices evacuated for lack of End-User Certificates,” he said.
Adeniyi warned that the unregulated importation of sexual performance enhancers without medical oversight presented grave health risks, including the potential for cardiovascular events and harmful drug interactions.
He explained that the intercepted items fell into three major categories. The first, which accounted for 73.7 per cent of the seizures, consisted of unregistered pharmaceutical products lacking mandatory NAFDAC certification.
“All the items fall into three different categories. The first category, which constitutes 73.7 per cent of the total seizure, is that of unregistered pharmaceutical products lacking mandatory National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control registration numbers and certification, which is a direct confirmation of Section 28 of NAFDAC Act, Cap N-1, laws of the Federation, and this constitutes 63.7 per cent of the total seizures that we have today, more than half of them.”
He said the second category comprised expired food items deemed hazardous to health and in violation of regulatory standards under the Food Products Registrations and Regulations as well as the Pre-shipment Inspections of Exports Act.
The third category involved controlled equipment such as drone technology and telecommunication devices imported without the required documentation from national security authorities.
Adeniyi expressed alarm over a growing trend among importers to misdeclare goods in order to evade detection. “Two containers had this pharmaceutical but were concealed with skin creams to hide them from customers,” he said, adding that there appeared to be a deliberate strategy to disguise illicit items.
He pointed out that the combination of pharmaceuticals, expired food, and military-grade hardware in these shipments indicated a shift from isolated smuggling attempts to more organised and sophisticated criminal networks.
“The seizures revealed that importers are diversifying their contraband portfolios, combining pharmaceuticals, food items, and control technology in systematic shipments,” he noted. “This development suggests the emergence of organised networks with sophisticated capabilities rather than isolated smuggling attempts that we used to have.”
Despite the complex nature of these infractions, Adeniyi affirmed that the NCS was working in collaboration with relevant regulatory and security agencies, including NAFDAC, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, and the Office of the National Security Adviser.
“This collaboration operates under established Memoranda of Understanding and joint operational frameworks that have demonstrably enhanced our enforcement capacities.
“As documented in our joint operational report of January 2025, the nexus between unregistered pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, and national security infrastructures continues to present a multi-dimensional threat matrix to our sovereignty,” he said.
Speaking further, the Director of Ports Inspection at NAFDAC, Dr Olakunle Olaniran, confirmed that many of the seized drugs bore fake registration numbers and posed significant public health risks.
He revealed that one confiscated product, intended for industrial coal treatment, was fraudulently branded with a NAFDAC number originally issued for tramadol, a common painkiller.
He said, “One of the confiscated products was intended for industrial use in coal treatment but was fraudulently branded with a NAFDAC registration number originally issued for another product, which is the widely known pain medication, tramadol.”
Olaniran added that another seized product was deceptively presented as a mental health medication but lacked any authentic pharmaceutical identification.
He said, “Another intercepted product was falsely marketed as a mental health medication but lacked any legitimate pharmaceutical identification.”
