An investigation by BBC Africa Eye has uncovered the companies fueling the opioid crisis in Ghana and other West African countries, including Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.
The investigation revealed that two Indian companies, Aveo Pharmaceuticals and Westfin International, manufacture and smuggle illegal drugs such as Tafrodol and Super Royal.
These drugs contain harmful ingredients; tapentadol, a powerful opioid, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant so addictive that it is banned in Europe.
BBC Africa Eye traced the origin of Tafrodol, a drug that has been destroying the lives of many youths in Ghana, particularly in the Northern Regional capital, Tamale, back to Aveo Pharmaceuticals in Mumbai, India.
A director of Aveo Pharmaceuticals, Vinod Sharma, spoke to undercover reporters posing as buyers interested in shipping the drugs to Nigeria.
He detailed how the company smuggles the drugs into West Africa, revealing that Ghanaian ports were easier to exploit than Nigerian ones.
“Nigeria is not possible nowadays because the government is very strict. We can supply by sea but not through Lagos, rather through ports in Ghana and other places. Otherwise, the police can arrest and capture the container.
“I can clear from our customs, meaning India, but you can clear from your side,” Sharma said.
The investigation found that a company in Accra, Samospharm Limited, was the primary recipient of Aveo Pharmaceuticals’ smuggled opioid drugs in Ghana.
The BBC reporter indicated that customs data showed Samospharm Limited was importing Aveo Pharmaceuticals’ products, which the Food and Drugs Authority of Ghana has declared illegal.
Import duty records showed that the Ghanaian company was bringing in tens of millions of dollars’ worth of Tafrodol from Aveo Pharmaceuticals.
Another document revealed that Samospharm was also importing millions of dollars’ worth of opioids from Westfin International, a company linked to Vinod Sharma.
Samospharm has denied importing illegal drugs from the Indian companies. However, despite promising to provide evidence of its innocence, it has failed to do so.
Watch how the drugs were smuggled into Ghana from India from the 30th minute of the full video of the investigation below:
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
