NDLEA intercepts Kano-bound 1.6m tramadol pills, arrests suspects
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted truckloads of 1.6 million pills of tramadol concealed in specially fabricated compartments of trailers heading to Kano. This followed the dismantling of an alleged transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor. The agency also announced the arrest of an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer […]
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted truckloads of 1.6 million pills of tramadol concealed in specially fabricated compartments of trailers heading to Kano.
This followed the dismantling of an alleged transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also announced the arrest of an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to the importation of synthetic cannabis from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and other suspects in coordinated operations across the country.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said the intelligence-led operations led to the recovery of 1,630,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed beneath the cargo floors of two trailers travelling from Lagos to Kano.
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According to him, the latest seizures came barely a week after NDLEA intercepted 558,900 pills of the same psychoactive substance hidden in a truck that entered Nigeria through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said the first trailer was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.
He added that a second trailer was tracked and intercepted on the same highway on July 4, with 777,000 pills of tramadol recovered from another concealed compartment beneath the truck’s cargo floor.
The driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu, was arrested.
“Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on June 21, July 2 and July 4 belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis,” Babafemi said.
In another operation, NDLEA operatives at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.”
He said the consignments arrived aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights from Canada on June 24 and July 3, respectively.
Babafemi said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested before operatives apprehended Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, who came to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
Further investigation, he said, led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified as the owner of the consignments.
She was arrested on July 7 in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Area C Command in Surulere, Lagos.
According to the NDLEA spokesman, the suspect, who claimed to be a printer, admitted that a friend based in Canada introduced her to the illicit trade.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji in Ahoada on July 14 after recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.
In Edo State, a couple identified as Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested during a raid on their alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City.
The operation led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and 192.67 kilograms of compressed Canadian Loud.
Similarly, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos after investigations linked them to 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg intercepted in Kogi State on July 12.
Babafemi said the suspects were traced to Apapa, Lagos, where they were apprehended.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools across Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states.
Commending officers involved in the operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), said the seizures and arrests had significantly strengthened ongoing efforts to curb drug trafficking across the country.
He urged officers and men of the agency to remain vigilant in the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.