BBC World Service
BbcThe Indian authorities have prohibited two very addictive opioids in response to a BBC investigation which revealed that they fed a public health crisis in certain parts of West Africa.
In a letter seen by the BBC of the Controller General of Indian drugs, Dr. Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi said that the manufacturing and export authorization of drugs had been withdrawn
BBC Eye found a pharmaceutical business, Aveo, had illegally exported A harmful mixture of tapentadol and carisoprodol in countries like Ghana, Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire.
The Food and Drug Administration of India said that the company’s factory in Mumbai had since been attacked and that all of its actions have been seized.
Dr. Raghuvanshi’s circular, dated Friday, cited the BBC investigation in its decision to ban all combinations of Tapentadol and Carisoprodol, which was to be implemented with immediate effect.
He said it also came after the officials had examined “the potential of drug abuse and its harmful impact on the population”.
Tapentadol is a powerful opioid, and carisoprodol is a muscular relaxant so addictive that it is prohibited in Europe.
Carisoprodol is approved for use in the United States, but only for short periods of up to three weeks. Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, insomnia and hallucinations.
The combination of the two drugs is not allowed to use anywhere in the world because they can cause breathing difficulties and crises and an overdose can kill.
Despite the risks, these opioids are popular street drugs in many West African countries because they are so cheap and widely available.
The export data available publicly show that AVEO Pharmaceuticals, as well as a sister company called Westfin International, have sent millions of these tablets to Ghana and other West African countries.
The BBC World Service has also found packages of these pills with the Aveo logo for sale in the streets of Nigeria and in Ivorian cities and cities.
Nigeria, with a population of 225 million inhabitants, provides the largest market for these pills. It has been estimated that around four million Nigerians abuse a form of opioid, according to the National Bureau of Statistics of the Country.
As part of the investigation, the BBC also sent an infiltration agent – posing as an African businessman seeking to provide opioids in Nigeria – in one of the Aveo factories in India, where They filmed one of the Aveo directors, Vinod Sharma, showing the same dangerous products as the BBC found for sale through West Africa.
In the secretly recorded images, the operator tells Sharma that his plan is to sell the pills to adolescents in Nigeria “who love this product”.
Sharma in response answers “OK”, before explaining that if users take two or three pills at the same time, they can “relax” and agree that they can become “high”.
Towards the end of the meeting, Sharma says: “It is very harmful to health,” adding that “nowadays, it is business”.
Sharma and Aveo Pharmaceuticals did not respond to a request for comments when the BBC initial survey was published.
The Food and Drug Administration of India said that a bite operation had seen the entire stock of Aveo seized and a new production stopped in a statement on Friday. Other legal proceedings will be taken against society, she added.
The agency said it was “fully prepared” to take measures against anyone involved in “illegal activities that tarnish the country’s reputation”.
The FDA has been responsible for performing other inspections to prevent the supply of drugs, he said.
