Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has uncovered a suspected counterfeit alcoholic drinks production facility valued at more than ₦500 million in Aba, Abia State, on 19 October 2026, less than a week after seizing fake beverage packaging worth over ₦200 million in the city. The latest discovery raises fresh questions about the supply chain behind suspected counterfeit drinks.
The facility at No. 25 Omenazu Street contained empty bottles, sealing machines, packaging materials, ethanol and tanks holding unidentified liquid mixtures. The valuation covers equipment, materials and other facility components, not confirmed sales of counterfeit beverages. NAFDAC has not established whether finished products from the site reached the market or identified the suspected operator.
A Production Site Under Scrutiny
NAFDAC operatives found the premises operating under unhygienic conditions after acting on intelligence about suspected illegal production. The suspected operator reportedly fled when officials arrived, leaving behind a vehicle containing packaging bearing the names of Sir Edwards Scotch Whisky and Scottish Hills Whisky, empty bottles and a drum holding approximately 200 litres of liquid.
Other items recovered included bottle caps, cartons, plastic buckets, dirty sieves and 200-litre drums containing ethanol. Officials also found tree bark immersed in ethanol and tanks containing various liquid mixtures. The materials raise questions about product composition and safety, but no laboratory findings establishing the contents or effects of any finished drinks have been made public.
Aba’s Second Appearance
The discovery follows NAFDAC’s 15 October seizure of counterfeit packaging materials valued at more than ₦200 million from five shops at Old Court Road Market in Aba. Those materials carried names including Jameson, Glenfiddich, Four Cousins and Lord’s Dry Gin, alongside other beverage and consumer product brands.
The two operations targeted different locations and types of suspected activity. The earlier raid focused on packaging materials allegedly intended for counterfeit production, while the latest uncovered equipment and materials at a suspected production site. NAFDAC has not announced a link between the locations, their operators or the materials recovered, so the separate seizures do not establish a single coordinated network.
Risks for Beverage Brands
Counterfeit packaging can allow unauthorised products to resemble genuine brands, exposing manufacturers to reputational damage and complicating checks by distributors and retailers. The commercial risk extends to consumers who cannot reliably verify a drink’s origin from its label alone, particularly when production conditions and ingredients are uncertain.
The Aba discovery comes amid wider enforcement against suspected illicit beverage operations. On 13 October, NAFDAC reported seizing products valued at more than ₦2 billion at Lagos’s BBA Trade Fair Complex, where officials also arrested two suspects. Whether investigations in Aba will lead to arrests, laboratory findings or evidence of distribution remains unclear.
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