Key Takeaways
- NAFDAC’s Investigation & Enforcement Directorate uncovered a residential building at 322B Meiran Road, Agbado Oke Odo, Lagos, used to store empty bottles of assorted alcoholic beverages for suspected counterfeiting.
- Over 100 sacks of empty bottles were discovered and immediately destroyed to prevent reuse in producing fake alcoholic drinks.
- The bust adds to a wave of NAFDAC raids in Lagos and Onitsha in the past week — including fake tomato paste at Bowa Market with sachet water NAFDAC numbers.
Lagos is again at the center of Nigeria’s fake drinks crisis.
NAFDAC’s Investigation & Enforcement Directorate has uncovered a residential building at 322B Meiran Road, Agbado Oke Odo, Lagos, where empty bottles of assorted alcoholic beverages were stored for suspected use in counterfeiting popular brands.
According to the agency, over 100 sacks of empty bottles were discovered at the location. All were destroyed on the spot to prevent their reuse in the production of counterfeit alcoholic drinks.
The address — 322B Meiran Road, Agbado Oke Odo — is not an industrial estate. It’s a residential building. That’s what makes it scary. In Lagos, many residential houses in Alimosho, Agbado, Oke Odo axis have been converted to mini factories for fake alcohol, fake wine, fake Schnapps, fake Hennessy, fake Chelsea Dry Gin.
NAFDAC’s Investigation & Enforcement Directorate has uncovered a residential building at 322B Meiran Road, Agbado Oke Odo, Lagos, where empty bottles of assorted alcoholic beverages were stored for suspected use in counterfeiting popular brands.
Over 100 sacks of empty bottles… pic.twitter.com/RaB1VmM59t
— NAFDAC NIGERIA (@NafdacAgency) October 23, 2026
Fact check: This is NAFDAC’s standard method. In December 2023, NAFDAC busted a similar massive operation at Aba Market and in Lagos where they found a house full of empty bottles of Schweppes, Hennessy, Chelsea, Squadron Dark Rum, Jameson, and other popular brands being refilled with diluted ethanol, coloring, and sometimes sachet water. The bottles are sourced from bars, clubs, and event centers — scavengers pick them from trash for N50-N100 per bottle, then sell to counterfeiters for N200-N300. The counterfeiters wash, refill, reseal with fake corks and NAFDAC numbers, and sell to innocent Nigerians at markets.
Wider context: This Meiran bust is coming just days after two other major NAFDAC stories we covered on Xtrend.ng. On October 20, NAFDAC uncovered fake tomato paste at Bowa Market, Onitsha, where producers were using sachet water NAFDAC numbers to register tomato paste — same trick: reusing NAFDAC registration numbers from other products to fool buyers. And last month, NAFDAC also warned about counterfeit Bournvita, Milo, and alcoholic bitters in Lagos markets.
Why does this matter? Because counterfeit alcohol kills. In 2023-2024, Rivers, Ogun and Delta states recorded deaths from fake gin laced with methanol. Methanol poisoning causes blindness, kidney failure, and death. Many Nigerians buying “original” drinks at parties, bars in Ikeja, Festac, and even supermarkets in Agbado are actually drinking diluted industrial alcohol. The bottles look original because they ARE original bottles — just refilled.
On X, Nigerians reacting to the Meiran Road discovery are saying: “Na why person go drink one shot for club for Lagos and him eye go blind.” Another said: “Agbedo Oke Odo again? That area na headquarters for fake drinks. NAFDAC should raid all buildings on Meiran Road.” Market women in Abule Egba and Meiran told reporters they suspect many shops sell fake drinks but NAFDAC only catches one in 100. One comment trending: “Destroying 100 sacks no be enough, arrest the owner of the building.”
This is similar to the Opeyemi Famakin story we covered where he called Kano the No. 2 hub for fake drugs and said Igbo are No. 1 — which sparked a tribalism debate. That story showed how fake products are tied to markets and ethnic profiling. This Meiran bust shows the reality: fake alcohol is not about tribe — it’s about Lagos residential buildings, Onitsha Bowa Market, Aba Cemetery Market, and Sabon Gari Kano. The entire supply chain is national. The difference is, NAFDAC’s Enforcement Directorate is now targeting the bottle supply chain itself — destroy the empty bottles, and you stop the refilling.
NAFDAC says investigation continues to trace the owners of 322B Meiran Road and the buyers who would have refilled them. The agency is asking Nigerians to report suspicious residential buildings storing large quantities of empty bottles, especially in Agbado Oke Odo, Alimosho, and Onitsha. They also advise buyers to check for broken seals, inconsistent labeling, and to buy from reputable supermarkets, not roadside shops.
For now, over 100 sacks of empty bottles are gone. But how many more residential buildings on Meiran Road are still storing thousands more?
Peter K. is the Editor at XTrend.ng. He tracks what’s trending across politics, metro and pop culture — and tells the story as it is. With years in digital media, he leads the XTrend newsroom with a focus on speed, accuracy and street-smart reporting.
