Woman accused of importing fake drugs granted bail

Trial of Rita Fordjour, a 52-year- old businesswoman who is accused of importing 481 boxes of Tres-Orix Forte drugs valued at GHc102, 215 cedis believed to be fake began at an Accra Circuit Court on Tuesday.

Tres-Orix Forte, is a vitamin boosting drug.

At a court sitting, Mr Thomas Amedzro, a marketing  Surveillance Officer of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) testified in respect of how Rita was apprehended with the fake drugs.

The facts of the prosecution were that accused person resides at Koforidua in the Eastern Region. In recent times the FDA had been receiving various complaints from the public about the flooding of fake drugs on the Ghanaian markets.

Based on that, prosecution began monitoring and during the last quarter of last year, the FDA gathered intelligence, which suggested that a consignment of counterfeit Tres-Orix Forte, a vitamin boosting drug, which was originally a product of KAMA Group of Industries, were being imported to Ghana from China.

Prosecution said undercover agents commenced work and found out the accused person was among the syndicate who were engaged in smuggling of the counterfeit medicines and she had imported 481 cartons of Tres-Orix Forte for distribution.

On February 18, this year, operatives of FDA with the assistance of the National Security managed to arrest the accused person at Haatso, near Madina where she was to dispatch the drugs to the Ashanti and Northern regions and even beyond.

The operatives managed to retrieve 481 cartons with market value of GH¢102, 215.50.

DSP Annor said in Rita’s cautioned statement, she denied importing the drugs but indicated that it was a Nigerian by name Oke Chuku at Okaishie who gave them to her.

However, DSP Annor noted that import documents retrieved from her room in Koforidua indicated that she bought them from a company in China and not in Ghana.

Further investigations led to the retrieval of import document of vermox, zental albendazole, and panadol among others.

Rita pleaded not guilty to the charges and the court admitted her to bail in the sum of GH¢50, 000 with three sureties one to be a public servant.

She is to deposit her passport with the Court’s registry and report to the Police every fortnight.

Source: GNA