Four pharmaceutical companies have been raided in Nigeria after a BBC investigation into the role of cough syrup containing codeine in an addiction epidemic.
The firms are in Lagos, Ilorin and Kano, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control said.
Nigeria this week announced a ban on the production and import of the syrup.
The BBC investigation showed the syrup being sold on the black market for young Nigerians to get high.
The probe recorded a number of pharmaceutical employees selling the drug illegally.
Prices of the syrup on the black market have shot up since the ban.
Officials estimate that about three million bottles of codeine syrup are being drunk a day in just two states, Kano and Jigawa.
Excessive consumption of codeine can cause organ failure and schizophrenia.
“Our inspection and enforcement teams are in the premises of the four pharmaceutical companies that were shown in the [BBC] video,” Prof Mojisola Adeyeye, who heads the Nafdac, told Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper.
“Our officials are there putting things on hold, and everything is being documented. When completed, we will prepare our report and then we will take appropriate action.
“If products that are fake or substandard are discovered, such products will be seized and destroyed.
“These companies that were caught, from our records, have a limited amount of codeine, but from what the documentary showed there is indication that the production is more than the quantity that was approved. So the question can be asked, was there smuggling involved?” Prof Adeyeye said.
The companies concerned have so far made no public comment on the raids.
One of the companies featured in the documentary, Emzor, has released a statement on Facebook denying links to the black market and saying it has launched a full investigation into its current processes.
The member of staff depicted has since been dismissed and reported to the police, the company said.
Bioraj Pharmaceuticals Ltd said it has also suspended an employee and launched an investigation.
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Source: BBC