NAFDAC Blacklists India’s Aveo Pharmaceuticals Over Illegal Opioid Exports to West Africa

Written on 28/02/2025
The Nation Online

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has blacklisted Aveo Pharmaceuticals Pvt Limited, an India-based pharmaceutical company, for its role in the illegal production and exportation of highly addictive opioid drugs to West Africa.

The company was found guilty of manufacturing, selling, and exporting dangerous opioid combinations, including Tapentadol, a powerful painkiller, and Carisoprodol, a banned muscle relaxant with high addiction potential, sold under the names Tafrodol and Royal 225.

A BBC World Service investigation uncovered that these addictive drugs, branded with the Aveo Pharmaceuticals logo, have flooded the streets of Nigeria, Ghana, and Côte d’Ivoire, fueling concerns about rising drug abuse and overdose fatalities in the region.

NAFDAC’s blacklisting is part of Nigeria’s broader efforts to curb the influx of dangerous, unregistered pharmaceuticals into the country and protect public health.

 


Consequently, the agency has also banned the sale and distribution of Tafrodol or Royal 225 in the country.

NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, while briefing the media in Abuja on Friday, who affirmed that neither Tafrodol, Royal 225 nor any product from Aveo Pharmaceuticals has ever been registered by the agency, emphasized that tramadol doses above 100 mg, which are commonly trafficked by the company, have not been approved for medical use in Nigeria.  

“This is to inform the public that NAFDAC has never registered Tafrodol or Royal 225 or a strength of tramadol greater than 100 mg (the prescription strength) or any product manufactured by Aveo Pharmaceuticals Pvt Limited.  

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