Benin: over 540 kg of counterfeit medicine seized by police in Bassila

Police officers from the central police station in Bassila conducted a successful operation on Monday, June 1, 2026, dismantling a clandestine storage site for pharmaceutical products located in an isolated hamlet.

According to reports, the network was run by two young foreign nationals, described as regulars in illegal trafficking circuits. They used a makeshift house to store and repackage large quantities of counterfeit pharmaceutical products, commonly referred to as fake medicines, with the intent of redistributing them on the black market.

The swift intervention of law enforcement surprised the suspects in the act. Upon seeing the police, the traffickers attempted to flee, but their efforts were in vain against the tight perimeter set up by the Bassila police officers.

A thorough search of the residence and surrounding areas uncovered shipments of products that had already been unloaded and others that were in the process of being packaged.

In total, more than 540 kilograms of adulterated medical products were seized by the law enforcement agents. The two individuals have been apprehended and taken to the police station, where they are currently held in custody awaiting presentation to the competent judicial authorities to answer for their actions.