NAFDAC uncovers Chinese-linked fake product factories in Nigeria

THE National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a growing counterfeit trade in which Chinese syndicates are setting up production facilities and distribution networks in Nigeria.

NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Mr Martins Iluyomade, said the agency’s intelligence indicates that counterfeiters are increasingly moving away from simply importing fake goods from China to manufacturing them locally.

According to Iluyomade, some of the foreign operators identify fast-moving products in the Nigerian market, obtain samples and replicate them through local production channels.

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

Iluyomade said NAFDAC has consequently intensified efforts to dismantle illegal logistics and distribution facilities operated by foreign nationals involved in the counterfeit trade.

The development has heightened concerns about the safety of products circulating in Nigeria, with counterfeit and substandard goods ranging from toothpaste and cosmetics to bottled water and dairy products.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, said the agency had seized and destroyed regulated products valued at more than N1.5 trillion during coordinated enforcement operations in Lagos and parts of the South-East.

She said the agency secured 64 convictions for counterfeit-related offences between June 2025 and June 2026, describing the figure as the highest number recorded by NAFDAC within a one-year period.

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

NAFDAC also said criminal proceedings remain ongoing before federal courts against suspects arrested in Kano, Sokoto, Delta and Anambra states over the alleged importation and distribution of counterfeit oral-care products.

The agency said the latest enforcement actions form part of its broader campaign to disrupt the production, movement and sale of falsified and unsafe regulated products in the Nigerian market.