{"id":42991,"date":"2021-03-03T05:37:26","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T05:37:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/four-dealers-in-skin-bleaching-products-arrested\/"},"modified":"2021-03-03T05:36:27","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T05:36:27","slug":"four-dealers-in-skin-bleaching-products-arrested","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/four-dealers-in-skin-bleaching-products-arrested\/","title":{"rendered":"Four dealers in skin bleaching products arrested"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The suspects were all arrested in Kicukiro District in operations conducted by the department of Anti-Smuggling and Organized Crimes.<\/p>\n<p>They include Jean Paul Hategekimana and Jean Claude Munyantore arrested in Gatenga Sector while Valens Tuyisenge and Eric Turatsinze were arrested in Gikondo sector.<\/p>\n<p>Police also seized from the suspects 36 types of bleaching lotions worth about Rwf3 million. They include Diproson, Mediven, White express, G.G and other outlawed lotions and oils.<\/p>\n<p>Addressing the the media, Lazarre Ntirenganya from Rwanda Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) said the cosmetics contain hydroquinone, which pose health effects to users.<\/p>\n<p>\u2019\u2019These cosmetics were banned because they are harmful to the users. They are among the 1,342 listed cream and oil brands with hydroquinone and mercury, which are prohibited in Rwanda,&#8221; Ntirenganya said.<\/p>\n<p>The skin bleaching products are labeled illegal under the ministerial order determining the list of cosmetics, whose use is prohibited in Rwanda; the law on organization, functioning, and competence of the Council of Pharmacists; and the law relating to the regulation and inspection of food and pharmaceutical products.<\/p>\n<p>The products contain chemicals such as mercury and hydroquinone, which can cause liver damage, reduce resistance to bacterial and fungal infections, and increase anxiety, according to the World Health Organization.<\/p>\n<p>If it enters the bloodstream it also results into fatal liver and kidney damage, although medics say the most immediate visible side effect is skin scarring.<\/p>\n<p>Health experts confirm that prolonged use of corticosteroid creams and lotions can also decrease levels of collagen in the skin.<\/p>\n<p>Collagen strengthens and supports the skin, and a reduced amount can increase the risk of striae commonly known as stretch marks.<\/p>\n<p>RNP spokesperson, CP John Bosco Kabera said the suspects were arrested as a result of strong partnership between the Police and the general public through information sharing.<\/p>\n<p>He warned that these are part of the continuous Police operations targeting shops and people selling outlawed creams and oils.<\/p>\n<p>Article 266 of the law relating to offences and penalties in general, states  that &#8220;any person, who produces, sells or prescribes the following prohibited substances: a drug; harmful products;  cosmetics or body hygiene substances any other products derived from plants; commits an offence.  <\/p>\n<p>Upon conviction, he\/she is liable to imprisonment for a term of not less than one (1) year and not more than two (2) years and a fine of not less than three million Rwandan francs (Rwf 3,000,000) and not more than five million Rwandan francs (Rwf5,000,000) or only one of these penalties.&#8221;<\/p>\n<figure class=\"spip-document spip-document-37950 aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/en-images.igihe.com\/jpg\/four_people_who_were_dealing_in_outlawed_skin_bleaching_products.jpg\" alt=\"Four people, who were dealing in outlawed skin bleaching products. Photo RNP \" \/><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>{Rwanda National Police (RNP), on Tuesday, March 2, showed to the media four people, who were dealing in outlawed skin bleaching products.}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[75],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-42991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-homenews","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42991\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42991"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=42991"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=42991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}