The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) continued its anti-drug war, in the past week, harvesting and recovering large consignments of illicit drugs, including opioids, meth in carton walls, winter jackets, cream from raids across states in Nigeria, including the FCT, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, Taraba, Adamawa.
The feats were reported in a press release, on Sunday, by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
NDLEA operatives foiled desperate attempts by members of Drug Trafficking Organisations (DTOs) to move consignments of illicit substances, especially methamphetamine and opioids concealed in walls of carton, winter jackets and body cream containers to European countries.
The consignment of illicit drugs were reportedly intercepted by operatives of the anti-drug agency at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja and a courier firm in Lagos.
Two of the consignments heading to Italy were to be moved through the Lagos Airport where two suspects linked to the shipments were promptly arrested.
One of them, 37-year-old Friday Ehianuka, was going to Rome, Italy, last Friday, when he was intercepted while attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg concealed in containers of skin light body cream, all packed in the suspect’s luggage.
In his statement, Ehianuka, a resident of Milan, confirmed that he was to be paid a negotiated fee in Euros if he had succeeded in trafficking the consignment to Italy.
In another drug bust, NDLEA operatives at the Departure Hall of the Lagos Airport, last Wednesday, intercepted a passenger, Christian Agbonhese, who was attempting to board a Lufthansa Airlines flight to Milan, Italy.
“Upon a thorough search of his luggage, no fewer than 23,150 pills of tramadol 225mg; 4,000 tablets of tapentadol 250mg and 1,320 pills of tramadol 100mg, all concealed in two large winter jackets, bringing the total number of opioids recovered from him to 28,470 pills.
“The 38-year-old Agbonhese is also a resident of Milan,” Babafemi stated in the press release.
At a courier firm in Lagos, NDLEA officers, last Monday, intercepted two parcels of Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 1kg, hidden in a carton shipped to Lagos from the United States.
An attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine concealed in the walls of a carton to New Zealand was also thwarted.
In Kano, NDLEA operatives, last Wednesday, arrested a suspect, Abdulkadir Mamuda (35), caught with 102.5kg skunk at Dan-Tsalle.
Similarly, another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus (47), was nabbed same day at Naibawa Gabas, with 95.5kg of the same psychoactive substance.
Not less than 21, 737 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from a store at Otto, Ijora area of Lagos when NDLEA operatives raided the area, on Wednesday.
Two suspects -Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara -were arrested same day on 3rd Mainland Bridge, Lagos, conveying 8,380 bottles of same substance.
97.5kg skunk was recovered from the home of a suspect, Akeem Idde (37), in Ojah, Akoko-Edo LGA, Edo State, last Monday, just NDLEA operatives in Abuja, on Wednesday, intercepted a commercial bus along Gwagwalada expressway in the FCT.
“A thorough search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 91,840 pills of tramadol hidden in its body compartments. The bus driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was promptly taken into custody,” it was stated.
In Oyo State, a suspect, Bankole Bari, was, last Tuesday, arrested at Oke-Oyan, Ibarapa Local Government Area with 71.2kg skunk, which he smuggled into Nigeria from Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
Not less than 586,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5 were recovered by NDLEA operatives from Lawal Anas (28) along Kaduna-Zaria highway, Kaduna, on Tuesday, while 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg were seized from Musa Shuaibu (22), at same location, on Friday.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives in Taraba State, on Tuesday, intercepted a suspect, Aliyu Adamu (26), along Takum-Jalingo highway while conveying 77,660 capsules of tramadol to Gombe.
In Adamawa State, no fewer than six suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 82.8kg tramadol in a truck in Yola on Tuesday.
“Suspects who are joint owners of the consignment include: Ramatu Aliyu; Jungudo Abdullahi; Najid Abdullahi; Musa Mohammed; Usman Abdulrahim and Musa Mohammed. “They were all arrested in swift follow-up operations,” it was further explained in the release.
Meanwhile, NDLEA commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, work places and communities in the past week.
These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Girls High School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; New State High School, Mushin, Lagos; Cornerstone Secondary School, Sankwala, Cross River; Community Secondary School, Ngwo-Uno, Udi, Enugu and St. John’s Academy, Ipokia, Ogun state, among others.
Chairman/CEO of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), has commended the officers and men of the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba, and Adamawa commands for the arrests, and seizures,
He enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.
