NAFDAC raises alarm over alleged Chinese counterfeit syndicates

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has raised the alarm over the activities of alleged Chinese counterfeit syndicates that have shifted from importing fake products into Nigeria to establishing local manufacturing and distribution networks.

 

The agency’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, disclosed this while speaking on recent intelligence gathered by NAFDAC on the counterfeit trade.

 

Iluyomade said investigations showed that some foreign nationals allegedly involved in counterfeiting were now establishing manufacturing facilities and logistics networks in Nigeria to produce and distribute fake products locally.

 

“Before, to fake a product, you needed to go to China to bring it. Now, they are here with us,” he said.

 

He added, “They identify moving products, send samples to China, and distribute them locally through logistics companies they own.”

 

According to Iluyomade, NAFDAC has commenced the systematic closure of illegal logistics facilities allegedly operated by foreign nationals linked to the counterfeit network.

 

The development comes amid concerns over the circulation of dangerous and substandard consumer products, including adulterated toothpaste, contaminated bottled water, fake cosmetics and unwholesome dairy products.

 

The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency had confiscated and destroyed regulated products worth more than N1.5tn during coordinated enforcement operations in Lagos and the South-East.

 

Adeyeye also disclosed that the enforcement campaign had resulted in 64 convictions of counterfeiters between June 2025 and June 2026, describing the figure as the highest number recorded by the agency.

 

She said one of the convictions resulted in a five-year prison sentence for an operator of an illegal beverage laboratory in December.

 

NAFDAC further disclosed that legal proceedings were ongoing at federal courts against several suspects arrested in Kano, Sokoto, Delta and Anambra states over the alleged importation and distribution of fake oral-care products.

 

The agency said it would continue to strengthen surveillance and enforcement activities to curb the production, distribution and sale of counterfeit and unwholesome regulated products in the country.