They were arrested from various hideouts and information centres in Adisadel, Nkanfoa, Ntranoa, Amamoma, Asenadze and Essuekyir in a swoop on Friday dawn where they had openly displayed the medicines amidst loud audio advertisement selling to the unsuspecting public.

The team seized a total of 1,285 assorted local aphrodisiacs of 11 different brands.

Some of the medicines were concoctions that had no labels on them to indicate the kind of ingredients used in their preparation and had no directions detailing the right usage.

Mr John Odai Tettey, the Regional Head of FDA, in an interview with the GNA after the exercise, said the medicines were not registered by the FDA and were not supposed to be sold on the market.

According to him, the move formed part of a sustained effort by the FDA to clamp down on dealers of unwholesome products to safeguard the lives of consumers.

The FDA, he said, would continue to protect public health by ensuring the safety, efficacy and security of human and veterinary drugs, food, biological products, cosmetics, medical devices, household chemical substances, tobacco and conduct clinical tests.

As part of its mandate, the FDA would continue to regulate, check, monitor and seize all unregistered, fake and substandard medicines and medical devices supplied to hospitals, pharmacies and all unauthorised places throughout the country, he said.

"We will continually ensure that wholesome products are registered, inspected and licensed while surveillance and clinical trial activities are carried out in conformity with the applicable national and international standards to meet customer satisfaction.”

He said the swoop was an ongoing process, which would be sustained to safeguard the health of the public and called on the registered herbal companies and the general public to report any suspected fake medicines on the market to the Authority.

Mr Tettey said the FDA had routinely organised training programmes for drug sellers and manufacturers in the Region and appealed to stakeholders to help it flush out the illegal drug dealers in the system.

He said the suspects would be dealt with according to law to serve as a deterrent to others.