The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a massive illicit bottle depot operating inside a secluded residential building in Lagos State.
During an intelligence-led operation, regulatory officers discovered and subsequently destroyed more than 100 sacks packed with empty alcoholic beverage bottles suspected to be stockpiled for the production and packaging of counterfeit drinks.
​The raid was carried out at a premises located at 322B Meiran Road, within the Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State. Details of the enforcement action were made public on Friday morning, October 23, 2026, through an official video broadcast released by the agency.
​Speaking on behalf of the agency, Mr. Kunle Ojo, an Assistant Director within NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, explained that operatives moved in after receiving credible intelligence regarding suspicious operations tucked away in the quiet neighborhood.
Upon entering the residential compound, enforcement officers met large stockpiles of empty glass containers of varying sizes, carefully arranged across different sections of the compound and concealed under thick tarpaulins.
​Inspectors noted that the confiscated glass bottles bore the labels of several popular commercial beverage brands, including Action Bitter, Royal Circle Premium Whisky, and Smirnoff, among others.
Regulatory authorities believe the facility served as a central supply hub for illicit syndicates who purchase secondhand branded containers to refill them with unregulated, toxic concoctions before distributing them to unsuspecting consumers.
​”On getting here, we saw different kinds of bottles stacked in this place, covered with tarpaulins,” Ojo stated during the site inspection. “What these people are planning to do, or what they do here, is to supply the bottles to different suspected counterfeiters to be used for another production.”
​Ojo strongly condemned the practice of converting residential quarters into feeder facilities for dangerous counterfeiting networks, emphasizing that the government would not tolerate operations that endanger public safety.
​To neutralise the immediate threat, NAFDAC officers destroyed the seized bottles at the venue to ensure they could not be recycled back into the illicit market.
The agency reiterated its commitment to dismantling counterfeit supply networks and urged residents to remain vigilant, inspect product packaging carefully before consumption, and report suspicious activities within residential communities to law enforcement authorities.
