Screenshots from the BBC documentary
The British state broadcaster, the BBC, has uncovered a massive trafficking operation in Ghana, Nigeria, Cote D’Ivoire, and other West African countries, which it says is fuelling the opioid health crisis in the sub-region.
An investigation by BBC Eye found an Indian pharmaceutical company, Aveo Pharmaceuticals, based in Mumbai, which manufactures unlicensed, highly addictive opioids and smuggles them to Ghana and the other West African countries.
Details of the investigation shared on bbc.com indicated that the drugs manufactured by Aveo Pharmaceuticals are full of harmful illegal components.
“Aveo Pharmaceuticals, based in Mumbai, makes a range of pills that go under different brand names and are packaged to look like legitimate medicines. But all contain the same harmful mix of ingredients: tapentadol, a powerful opioid, and carisoprodol, a muscle relaxant so addictive it’s banned in Europe.
“This combination of drugs is not licensed for use anywhere in the world and can cause breathing difficulties and seizures. An overdose can kill,” the report said.
It continued that, “Despite the risks, these opioids are popular as street drugs in many West African countries, because they are so cheap and widely available.”
The report contained a video which showed the drugs found at Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s Northern Region. The video also showed some youth from Tamale who were completely high after consuming the drug.
A BBC reporter indicated that the menace was so severe that residents of Tamale have set up a taskforce to find and destroy the drugs.
The video also showed a massive amount of the drugs which had been confiscated by the taskforce, which were subsequently burnt.
Undercover reporters of BBC Eye traced the drug to Aveo Pharmaceuticals’ base in Mumbai, where they interacted with a director of a company by the name of Vinod Sharma.
In the conversation, which was secretly recorded, Vinod Sharma admitted that the drug was very harmful.
He boasted about the potency of the drugs and how they make people high to the extent that they cannot even move.
“This item, tapentadol, is a painkiller but suppose you can use two or three tablets at once, you relax like this,” he said as he raised his hands and rested his head on his chair.
The director also explained how they get the drugs into the West African countries; stating that it was more difficult to smuggle them through ports in Nigeria than ports in Ghana.
“Nigeria is not possible nowadays because the government is very strict. And we can supply by the sea but not (through) Lagos but ports in Ghana and others. Otherwise, police can arrest, capture the container.
“I can clear from our customs, meaning India, but you can clear from your side,” the director said.
Watch the video and the full BBC report below:
For more than a decade, West Africa has been in the grip of an opioid crisis.
But who’s making these illegal, dangerous pills? #BBCAfricaEye and #BBCEye go undercover to investigate.
🎥 Watch the documentary “India’s Opioid Kings” here: https://t.co/xoZ9UjoR5O pic.twitter.com/xqWf0M3iCE
— BBC News Africa (@BBCAfrica) February 21, 2025
Read the full story published on Friday, February 21, 2025 by BBC
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