The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has seized alcoholic beverages worth an estimated N300 million in Lagos State as it intensifies enforcement of the ban on sachet and small-sized plastic alcoholic drinks.
The agency said the products, packaged in sachets and polyethylene terephthalate bottles below 200ml, were seized during enforcement operations at Ile-Epo Market, Ojuwoye Market in Mushin and Oke-Arin Market on Lagos Island.
NAFDAC disclosed this in a statement shared on Sunday, noting that some distributors and retailers involved in the sale of the prohibited products were also arrested.
According to the agency, officials evacuated several cartons of the banned alcoholic beverages from the affected markets, while distributors and retailers were arrested during operations at Ile-Epo Market.
The agency said its investigations further revealed that some distributors and retailers were hoarding the prohibited products because of increased demand and rising prices.
NAFDAC said the enforcement exercise was aimed at ensuring compliance with the ban on the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.
It warned distributors, retailers and other operators against selling, distributing or hoarding the prohibited products, stressing that the ban remains in force.
The latest enforcement comes after NAFDAC directed manufacturers of the affected alcoholic beverages to recall their products nationwide or risk the closure of their facilities.
The agency had also warned that the Federal Government-approved prohibition on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET or plastic bottles below 200ml was irrevocable.
NAFDAC said the grace period previously given to manufacturers to discontinue production of the affected products had expired, paving the way for stricter enforcement.
The agency said the value of the products seized in the latest Lagos operation was estimated at N300 million.
