Police uncover fake wine factory in Lagos, arrest owner

Detectives attached to the Lagos State Police Command have uncovered a factory where assorted fake wines and fruit juice are produced at Oke Odo area of Lagos.

A 48-year old man, Uju Daniel Ughanze, whom the police identified as the owner of the factory, has been arrested.

Various assorted wines, fruit juice and empty bottle were recovered from the one storey uncompleted building which doubles as the factory and the owner’s residence.

Aside the already produced wine, several chemicals and reagent used for the manufacturing of the products were also recovered by the undercover operatives.

Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Imohimi Edgal, who led newsmen to the illegal brewing site, said all samples of products recovered from the factory would be sent to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for laboratory analysis.

Edgal added that the house has been sealed until after investigation was concluded.

He said: “This matter is an interesting case because it has to do with the health of Lagosians. Based on intelligence information that some fake assorted wine, gin and juice are being brewed in an uncompleted building, we moved into action.

On December 18, at about 2:00p.m., the command received credible information that there exist a fake wine brewery in an uncompleted one storey building at Aboru area of Oke Odo, where assorted wine and alcoholic beverages were being produced.

“I directed the Area Commander, Area P, Alagbado to mobilize to the scene, search and seal off the factory. When the team arrived the scene, they executed a search warrant, which enable them to search and recover the following items: 4,000 bottles of already produced, packed and labeled adulterated wine of different brands; 1,000 empty bottles, drums of different sizes and various chemicals amd reagents used as.raw materials and other tools used in the production of fake wine/beverages. During interrogation, the.owner of the factory gave his name as Unu Daniel Ughanze, a narive of Obosi in Anambra State, aged 47. He claims to be the owner of the building where the illicit drinks were produced.”

Edgal said investigations revealed the suspect, a secondary school dropout, has neither the requisite qualification nor license to embark on such business. Uju, in his defence, said he was awaiting approval from NAFDAC to commence commercial production of the drinks.

He also denied that the drinks are fake, insisting that he produced them basically with local fruits.

“I am a creative minded person and all i do here is the production of fruit based drinks. I have not started selling because i am yet to get approval from NAFDAC” he said.