The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has announced the disruption of a counterfeit bottled water operation in the Pipeline Road area of Eneka, situated in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State. Acting swiftly upon receiving a tip-off from vigilant members of the public, NAFDAC officials uncovered the illicit activity on Friday morning.
According to Mr. Cyril Monye, the NAFDAC Public Relations Officer for the South-South Zone, the operation was being conducted in a dilapidated shop masquerading as a pool house. He revealed that the perpetrators were engaged in the production of fake bottled water, with one distributor apprehended in the act of loading the adulterated product for sale to unsuspecting consumers.
Monye detailed the appalling methods employed by the syndicate, which involved filling used Eva plastic bottles with contaminated water sourced from a paint bucket. Furthermore, they utilized unhygienic rubber funnels covered with cloth material as filters. The counterfeit operation extended to the affixing of pre-printed Eva labels onto the plastic bottles, which were sealed with counterfeit Eva caps.
One of the distributors, identified as Chibunna James, was apprehended during the loading process, while the mastermind behind the operation remains at large, prompting ongoing efforts to locate and apprehend them.
In response to the incident, Emmanuel Onogwu, the NAFDAC Coordinator in Rivers State, urged the public to continue providing valuable information to aid in the apprehension of criminals involved in the adulteration and counterfeiting of regulated products.
Subsequently, the seized fake products, totaling 30 packs, were transported to the NAFDAC office in Port Harcourt for further investigation, while the uncorked bottles were emptied to prevent any potential harm to consumers.
