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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has seized alcoholic beverages worth an estimated N300 million during enforcement operations targeting banned sachet alcohol and alcoholic drinks packaged in PET bottles below 200 millilitres in Lagos State.
The agency disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X account on Sunday, noting that several distributors and retailers were arrested during the operation.
The latest enforcement action forms part of a nationwide crackdown on the production, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below the approved minimum volume.
Distributors arrested during raids
According to NAFDAC, enforcement teams carried out operations at Ile-Epo Market, where distributors and retailers of the prohibited products were apprehended.
The agency also conducted raids at Ojuwoye Market in Mushin and Oke-Arin Market on Lagos Island.
- “Officials evacuated several cartons of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200 mL from these locations.”
NAFDAC said preliminary investigations revealed that some traders were deliberately stockpiling the products amid rising demand and increasing prices.
- “Investigations indicated that some distributors and retailers were hoarding the products amid increased demand and rising prices.”
The agency reiterated that the ban on sachet alcohol and sub-200ml PET-packaged alcoholic beverages remains in force and warned operators across the supply chain against continuing to stock or distribute the products.
Nationwide enforcement exercise
The operation comes as NAFDAC intensifies a nationwide mop-up exercise aimed at removing the affected products from circulation.
- According to the agency, the exercise is being implemented across the six geopolitical zones in line with the Federal Government’s prohibition on the production, importation, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.
- NAFDAC said the latest enforcement drive follows the closure of manufacturing facilities found to be in violation of the directive.
The agency added that enforcement teams have been deployed to markets, motor parks, bars, retail outlets and other distribution channels to identify, confiscate and destroy banned products.
Addressing concerns about underage drinking
The ban on sachet alcohol and alcoholic beverages packaged in PET bottles below 200ml was introduced as part of efforts to address concerns about underage drinking, substance abuse and the easy accessibility of alcoholic beverages.
NAFDAC has repeatedly warned manufacturers, importers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, transporters and street vendors to comply with the directive.
The agency urged operators still holding stocks of the affected products to voluntarily surrender them, warning that anyone found producing, transporting, warehousing or selling the prohibited beverages risks regulatory sanctions, product seizure and possible prosecution.
The latest seizures underscore the regulator’s determination to enforce the ban nationwide and prevent the re-entry of the products into the market.
