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The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested members of a syndicate importing crusader soaps containing mercury into the country.
The NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who disclosed this to journalists on Friday in Lagos, said the syndicate used forged customs documents to import the product into the country.
She said the NAFDAC banned the importation of the soap into the country some years ago because it contains mercury.
Adeyeye said: “In the course of its regulatory activities, the investigation and enforcement (I&E) Directorate of NAFDAC has discovered a syndicate that specialises in importing banned crusader soaps containing mercury.
“The syndicate used forged customs documents to import the product into the country and further investigation through the ports shows that the banned crusader soap was imported seven times in 2021 alone.
“Each consignment is not less than three containers with 4,500 cartons of the soap.
“These products have found their way into various supermarkets and cosmetic shops with unsuspecting members of the public patronising them.
“Acting on intelligence, our investigation and enforcement team in August 2023 busted a warehouse in Trade Fair Market, which was filled with the banned imported soaps.
“Three trailer-loads of imported crusader medicated soap and mekako soap totaling 4,000 cartons by 12 packs by 12 tablet soap were evacuated from the warehouse, while some suspects were arrested in connection with the case.
“The street value of the evacuated products is approximately N1 billion.”
The NAFDAC chief said the agency successfully busted the warehouse after three failed attempts as the cartel used their informants continuously to relocate the consignment of soaps to different locations in Lagos to prevent the discovery.
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Adeyeye added: “One Chief Peter Obih, the prime suspect, during interrogation said he bought the product’s franchise from a company and presented an expired NAFDAC certificate that was issued for local manufacture of the product after the ban in Nigeria.
“Ironically, not a single bar of the soap had been manufactured in Nigeria since the purported registration in 2013.
“The suspect claimed he just secured a contract manufacturing agreement with a local manufacturer but they are yet to commence production.
“The sample of the product was taken to our laboratory for analysis and was found to contain heavy metals identified as mercury.
“The crusader soap is falsely labelled made in England to deceive Nigerians while the actual source is India.
“This is an outright violation of NAFDAC Acts and a contravention of the agency’s regulations, including the cosmetic products (prohibition of bleaching agents) regulations 2019.”
She noted that the presence of mercury in cosmetics was of global concern, because of the hazards it poses to human health and the environment.
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