The Volta Regional Secretariat of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has safely disposed of confiscated products worth GH¢10 million on Friday.

The products included items that were intercepted at Aflao and expired and counterfeit products confiscated during post-market surveillance in the Volta and Oti Regions. 

The items included pharmaceuticals, alcoholic beverages, aphrodisia, cigarettes among others. 

According to the Food and Drugs Authority, 2,045 kilograms of pharmaceutical products were intercepted at the Aflao border in August 2020. 

The drugs were concealed in two Nigeria registered buses transporting regulated products and vehicle engines to Ghana. 

They included primolet, penicillin ointment, amikacin sulfate injections, Quipam BP injections, Tramadol injections, and counterfeit postinor 2 tablets. 

Others are Mifabon, Tetanus Antitoxin calzim injections, and petazone injections. 

The disposal was done at a landfill site around Adukofe in the Ho Municipality and was supervised by officials from the Customs Excise and Preventive Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Regional Police Command, Ghana Standard Authority, National Narcotics Control Board, National Security, and the Ho Circuit Court Registry. 

The Volta Regional Director of the FDA, Gordon Akurugu, explained that the Ho Circuit Court ordered for the safe disposal of the items and acquitted the suspects who were made to sign a bond of good behavior. 

“It was a great exercise that took place last year August, and it ended up in the court, which gave judgment on the 15th of January 2021. It is a victory for FDA, Ghana and other Agencies”, he said. 

He advised transport owners to have a fair idea of the content of goods they are hired to transport before assuming responsibility for them.

He further indicated that it is illegal to import pharmaceuticals through the country’s land borders adding that “if you want to import drugs into the country, import them through Kotoka International Airport or Tema [Harbour]. 

Mr. Akurugu added that a survey has revealed that women form the majority of drug peddlers in Volta and Oti Regions and warned that any individual caught peddling drugs would be duly prosecuted. 

He stressed that FDA and its partnering agencies would intensify their surveillance in the markets and across the borders to prevent the import and sales of unwholesome products.