The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has seized alcoholic beverages valued at an estimated N300m during enforcement operations targeting banned sachet alcohol and alcoholic drinks packaged in PET bottles of less than 200 millilitres in Lagos State.

The agency disclosed this in a statement posted on its official X account on Sunday, adding that several distributors and retailers were arrested during the operation.

The latest enforcement action is part of a nationwide crackdown on the production, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below the approved minimum volume.

NAFDAC said its enforcement teams raided Ile-Epo Market, where several distributors and retailers of the prohibited alcoholic products were arrested.

The agency also carried out raids at Ojuwoye Market in Mushin and Oke-Arin Market on Lagos Island as part of the operation.

“Officials evacuated several cartons of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200 mL from these locations,” the agency stated.

NAFDAC said preliminary investigations showed that some traders were deliberately stockpiling the products in response to rising demand and higher prices.

“Investigations indicated that some distributors and retailers were hoarding the products amid increased demand and rising prices,” it added.

The agency reiterated that the ban on sachet alcohol and alcoholic beverages packaged in PET bottles below 200ml remains in force, warning operators across the supply chain against stocking or distributing the prohibited products.

The Lagos operation is part of NAFDAC’s intensified nationwide mop-up exercise aimed at removing the affected alcoholic beverages from circulation.

The agency said the exercise is being carried out across the six geopolitical zones in line with the Federal Government’s prohibition on the production, importation, distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages packaged in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.