The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated alcoholic beverages worth an estimated ₦300 million during enforcement operations targeting the sale of drinks packaged in sachets and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles below 200 millilitres in Lagos State.
The agency said several distributors and retailers were arrested during raids carried out at Ile-Epo Market, while additional enforcement operations were conducted at Ojuwoye Market in Mushin and Oke-Arin Market on Lagos Island.
According to NAFDAC, officials evacuated large quantities of prohibited alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below the approved 200ml minimum volume from the affected markets.
The agency disclosed that investigations revealed some distributors and retailers had been stockpiling the banned products amid rising demand and increasing prices, despite the existing prohibition on their sale and distribution.
NAFDAC reiterated that the ban on alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and small PET bottles remains in force and warned operators in the distribution chain against engaging in the sale, storage, distribution, or hoarding of the prohibited products.
The agency emphasized that violators would face appropriate regulatory sanctions, adding that enforcement operations would continue across the country to ensure compliance with extant regulations governing the production and sale of alcoholic beverages.
NAFDAC maintained that the crackdown forms part of ongoing efforts to protect public health and enforce standards within the alcoholic beverage industry.
