Indian authorities have banned two highly-addictive opioids in response to a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation which found they were fuelling a public health crisis in parts of Nigeria and some other West African countries.

In a letter seen by the BBC from India’s Drugs Controller General, Dr Rajeev Singh Raghuvanshi, said permission to manufacture and export the drugs had been withdrawn BBC Eye found one pharmaceutical company, Aveo, had been illegally exporting a harmful mix of tapentadol and carisoprodol in countries like Ghana, Nigeria, and Cote d’Ivoire.

India’s Food and Drug Administration said the company’s factory in Mumbai had since been raided and its entire stock seized.

The circular from Dr Raghuvanshi, dated to Friday, cited the BBC investigation in his decision to ban all combinations of tapentadol and carisoprodol, which was to be implemented with immediate effect.

He said this also came after officials had looked into “the potential of drug abuse and its harmful impact on population”. Tapentadol is a powerful opioid, and carisopro – dol is a muscle relaxant so addictive it is banned in Europe.

Carisoprodol is approved for use in the US, but only for short periods of up to three weeks. Withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, insomnia and hallucinations.

The combination of the two drugs is not licensed for use anywhere in the world as they can cause breathing difficulties and seizures and an overdose can kill. Despite the risks, these opioids are popular street drugs in many West African countries, because they are so cheap and widely available.

Publicly-available export data show that Aveo Pharmaceuticals, along with a sister company called Westfin International, has shipped millions of these tablets to Ghana and other West African countries.