NDLEA arrests engineer over illicit drug, grandma with opioids in Lagos

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Egwu Phillip Inya, who claims to be a building engineer, while attempting to take delivery of illicit consignments concealed in pressure machines imported from South Africa. The 42-year-old Egwu was arrested on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Okeyson Motor Park […]

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Egwu Phillip Inya, who claims to be a building engineer, while attempting to take delivery of illicit consignments concealed in pressure machines imported from South Africa.

The 42-year-old Egwu was arrested on Monday, December 2, 2024, at Okeyson Motor Park in Enugu when he arrived to collect three units of pressure machines in which were hidden parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of hemp, weighing 7.40kgs.

The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in a statement, said the consignments arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos’ import shed on November 29, 2024.

“Following credible intelligence, officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the agency had monitored the shipment pass through clearing processes up to a logistics company’s warehouse outside the airport where it was to be collected by the consignee.

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“The importer, however, changed the point of collection to Enugu at the last minute. As a result, NDLEA operatives in a follow up operation in Enugu arrested Egwu when he showed up to collect the consignments,” Babafemi said.

In Lagos State, a grandmother, 65-year-old Ramata Bola Adeyemo, was on Friday, December 6 arrested by NDLEA operatives at 62 Odunfa Street, Lagos Island, where 20.6 litres of codeine-based syrup was recovered from her.

Also arrested in Lagos was Alhaji Lawan Manga who was picked up at Ogundana Street, Ikeja on Thursday, December 5, while 4.7kgs of hemp and 1.3kgs of tramadol were recovered from him.

Meanwhile, no fewer than 511,000 pills of tramadol were recovered from a Siena vehicle at Hildi, Askira Uba way in Adamawa State by NDLEA operatives on patrol along the road in the early hours of Friday, December 6.

The occupants of the vehicle had made a detour on sighting the NDLEA team and after a distance abandoned the vehicle with the consignment after noticing that the operatives were on their trail.