The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration Control (NAFDAC ) have announced the arrest of the biggest dealer in fake and expired drugs in the South-East, Lazarus Onwukwr. For months, he was on the run but luck ran out on him on Thursday morning.
NAFDAC stormed his Osisioma Ngwa home in Aba and picked him up while trying to sneak out in a Sienna van loaded with drugs. It was a joint operation with the Army, Police, and DSS, reports revealed.
This is the same man who, according to reports, slipped through their fingers in February. Back then, they raided his twin duplex and carted away 14 truckloads of fake and expired drugs. The property was sealed. He disappeared. But NAFDAC operatives never took their eyes off him.
“He thought the government had forgotten him,” said Omoyeni Babatunji, Deputy Director of Investigation and Enforcement. “He was wrong.” Surveillance paid off.
The suspect is now in custody. Samples of the seized drugs will go through lab tests before he faces court.
Confronted with the allegations, Onwukwe admitted owning the buildings and using them as storage for his “foreign drugs,” but denied dealing in expired products.
“I’ve been sick for three months,” he claimed. “I just recovered last week. My wife and in-law have been visiting NAFDAC offices on my behalf.”
He also threw one of his former apprentices under the bus, saying the boy may have been revalidating expired drugs without his knowledge.
His wife, Nwamaka Chidiebere, insisted she knew nothing about her husband’s business. She said she rented the spaces to tenants because she didn’t know where he was.
One tenant, Engineer Lawrence Nwankwo, who moved in June, swore he had no clue the house was once a fake drug hub. Another tenant, Chioma Innocent, echoed the same story: “I didn’t know anything about any seal.”