By Chibundu Onyenweaku.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) announced on Sunday that it successfully thwarted the desperate attempts of transnational criminal organizations to flood Nigerian communities with large quantities of assorted illicit drugs during the yuletide season. The agency’s intervention led to the interception of millions of tramadol 225mg pills, thousands of codeine syrup bottles, and bags of Canadian Loud in shipments that were intended for the country ahead of the Christmas celebration.
Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson for the agency, reported that NDLEA officers, in collaboration with men of the Nigeria Customs and other stakeholders, foiled various tactics employed by drug syndicates at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja, Lagos. Specifically, they prevented the smuggling of 7,500,000 pills of tramadol 225mg through the NAHCO import shed of the airport.
The intercepted consignment, taken into custody on December 22nd, arrived on a Turkish airline with no specified country of manufacture or origin. This marked the first time such a shipment was seized on the airline’s flight and the first of its kind coming from Hamburg, Germany. The 7.5 million tramadol pills were discreetly packaged as tamol-x and concealed in 100 large cartons weighing 7,150kg. The preliminary test confirmed the presence of tramadol hydrochloride.
Further operations by NDLEA operatives in Lagos resulted in the recovery of 258 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup and eight cartons of codeine tablets from two shops at the Trade Fair complex in Ojo. In another operation in Mushin, Lagos, a 70-year-old grandma, Selifat Funke Cole, and her son, Babajide Ayorinde Cole, were arrested with 117.900kg of cannabis sativa.
The agency’s efforts extended beyond Lagos, as a consignment of spare parts originating from Asaba, Delta state, bound for Malviya Nagar, New Delhi, India, was intercepted at the cargo terminal of the Lagos airport. Sniffer dogs were deployed, leading to the identification of a particular shipment containing 200 grams of cocaine. Additionally, operatives seized 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, from a container marked BEAU 4993525, arriving from Toronto via Montreal, Canada. The container, which included four used vehicles, concealed bags of the psychoactive substance.
In the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, NDLEA operatives intercepted a waybill consignment of 25,000 pills of tramadol. In Anambra, two suspects were arrested at Onitsha head bridge with significant quantities of tramadol capsules, codeine bottles, rohypnol tablets, and a designer drug.
Operatives in Delta state, in collaboration with the military, raided the home of a drug kingpin, Chukwuma Steven Eneriku, in Abbi town, recovering bags of cannabis weighing 353kg. Similar successful operations were carried out in Enugu, where bags of cannabis sativa weighing 435.1kg were found in a warehouse, and in Edo state, where five individuals impersonating NDLEA officers were arrested with a fabricated gun and pistol carved from wood.
The NDLEA balanced its drug supply reduction operations with War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaigns, reaching schools, markets, worship centers, and communities across the country. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), commended the efforts of officers and men across various commands for their successful operations and urged them to remain vigilant for the next phase of operations in the new year.