Police seize suspected counterfeit goods, including fake sugar and hot chilli sauce

The Zambia Police Service, through its specialized Intellectual Property Unit, has uncovered a sprawling illicit manufacturing and repackaging syndicate operating out of residential backyards in Lusaka’s densely populated Kabanana and Chipata compounds. During the intelligence-led raids, law enforcement officers confiscated over 20,000 bottles of contaminated hot chilli sauce, large quantities of counterfeit cosmetics, and dozens of bags of bulk industrial sugar illegally repackaged to mimic trusted national brand names. According to police spokesperson Godfrey Chilabi, the operation was triggered by community tip-offs concerning underground production units operating without valid health or trade licenses. In Kabanana Compound, officers raided an unmarked facility and intercepted more than 20,460 bottles of counterfeit 'Good Family Hot Chilli Sauce' alongside unauthorized supplies of shampoo, peanut butter, raw chemical ingredients, and thermal sealing equipment. Investigators revealed that these consumables were being mixed and bottled in squalid, unregulated environments, posing grave health hazards to unsuspecting consumers. Parallel raids in the nearby Chipata Compound exposed a sophisticated sugar counterfeiting ring. Authorities seized extensive quantities of industrial and regional sugar supplies alongside packaging materials, weighing scales, and batch-coding machinery designed to duplicate prominent retail sugar brands. Two individuals—identified as 25-year-old Jovan Mugisha and 34-year-old Ogden Malambo—were apprehended in connection with the operations. The suspects face multiple criminal counts, including offering goods bearing false trademarks, operating unlicensed factories, and selling, packaging, or storing foodstuffs under hazardous and insanitary conditions. Public health experts and consumer advocacy groups have lauded the swift police intervention, emphasizing that the proliferation of counterfeit foodstuffs directly undermines national he