Officials say traders were stockpiling the outlawed drinks as demand and prices climbed.

Nigeria’s food and drug regulator has taken ₦300 million worth of banned alcohol off the shelves in Lagos.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) announced the haul on Facebook on Sunday. The drinks were sold in sachets and in plastic bottles smaller than 200ml, both of which are outlawed.

Agents hit three markets: Ile-Epo, Ojuwoye in Mushin and Oke-Arin on Lagos Island. They carted away several cartons of the drinks. At Ile-Epo, they also arrested distributors and retailers.

Why were traders holding so much stock? NAFDAC says its investigation found that some of them were hoarding. Demand for the drinks had risen, and so had their prices.

However, the agency made it clear that the ban still stands. It warned that anyone who sells, distributes or stockpiles the products risks being caught.

This is not the first move. In August, NAFDAC told manufacturers to pull the drinks from sale across the country. Otherwise, it said, it would shut their factories.

The agency also called the ban irrevocable. According to NAFDAC, the extra time the Federal Government gave producers to stop making the drinks has run out.