FDA, Police arrest 6 in Accra pubs for selling illicit products

Authorities in Accra have arrested six people for allegedly selling illicit and unregistered products at three pubs, following an intelligence-led operation by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and the Ghana Police Service. The raid, conducted last Friday, targeted Space Station Lounge and Night Club, Italian Boy Lounge, and Liquid Zero Pub in Nungua.

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the facilities were engaged in the sale of the illicit products.

During the operation, officers confiscated a range of concerning items. These included nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas, unregistered shisha products, Benylin containing codeine, substances suspected to be Indian hemp, and bottles of fruit juice believed to be cannabis-infused beverages. The FDA emphasized that these products pose serious public health risks due to their potential for abuse.

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the seized products posed serious public health risks due to their potential for abuse, particularly nitrous oxide and codeine-based medicines, while the sale of unregistered products contravened the country’s food and drugs laws.

Nana Kwame Dartey, a member of the FDA’s Tobacco and Tobacco Products Directorate, explained that the raid followed weeks of surveillance. He noted that the exercise is part of a broader, ongoing nationwide operation aimed at removing unauthorized products from the market and safeguarding public health. Dartey warned that operators dealing in such illicit goods would face sanctions, and advised the public to avoid patronizing them due to their harmful effects and high potential for abuse.

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the exercise was not a one-off operation but part of the FDA’s routine surveillance and enforcement activities.