The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said it busted a fake bottled water syndicate at the Pipeline Road axis of Eneka in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State.
The agency said the discovery on Friday morning followed a tip off from some well-meaning members of the public which its official speedily acted on.
NAFDAC Public Relations Officer, South-South Zone, Mr. Cyril Monye, who disclosed this in a statement in Port Harcourt on Friday said the suspects were using a ‘decrepit’ shop camouflage as a pool house for the production.
Monye said one of the distributors of the fake bottled water was arrested after packing the product and loading them for sale to unsuspecting consumers.
The statement read in part, “They pick used Eva plastic bottles which they fill with contaminated water fetched from a paint bucket while using dirty rubber funnel covered with clothing material as filter.
“The already printed Eva labels were then affixed into the plastic bottles and corked with already fake fitted Eva cocks.
“One of the distributors of the adulterated water who identified himself as Chibunna James was arrested as he was loading the product for sale, while the kingpin/producer is at large and efforts are on to track him down.”
Speaking on the incident, the NAFDAC Coordinator in Rivers State, Emmanuel Onogwu, enjoined members of the public to always avail the agency of useful information that will lead to arrest of criminals who specialise in adulteration and faking of regulated products.
The statement further said the fake products of 30 packs were eventually evacuated to NAFDAC office in Port Harcourt, while the uncorked ones were emptied.
