Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have dismantled two major cross-border drug trafficking syndicates, seizing cocaine and opioids worth billions of naira and arresting six cartel leaders across the country.
The syndicates, composed of Nigerians based in Mubi, Adamawa State; Onitsha, Anambra State; Lagos State, and Cameroonians, came under NDLEA’s radar after being suspected as key suppliers of drugs to terror groups in Nigeria and Cameroon.
According to a statement by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Mr. Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, those arrested include Ibrahim Bawuro, Najib Ibrahim, Ibrahim Umar, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, Ezeh Amaechi Martin, and Adejumo Elijah Ishola.
Intelligence gathered revealed that psychoactive substances, including tramadol, were sourced by Ibrahim Bawuro and Ibrahim Najib from a notorious drug dealer in Onitsha, Nelson Udechukwu Anayo, and subsequently packed and concealed in vehicles on the premises of Ezeh Amaechi Martin, an associate of Udechukwu.
Bawuro and Najib then transported the drugs from Onitsha to Yola and other northern regions, as well as Cameroon, using specially constructed hidden compartments in vehicles that travelled from the East to the North at night.
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On October 7, 2024, Bawuro and Najib were trailed from Onitsha, where they had gone to purchase another consignment, and were eventually arrested in Taraba the next day, October 8.
A total of 276,500 tramadol pills were recovered from a Toyota Avensis saloon car marked DKA 57 TT, which they abandoned on the Jalingo-Yola expressway after realizing NDLEA operatives were pursuing them.
Follow-up operations were subsequently conducted in Delta and Anambra states, leading to the arrests of Ezeh Amaechi Martin and Udechukwu Nelson Anayo by operatives from the NDLEA Directorate of Intelligence, coordinating efforts with their counterparts in Taraba, Adamawa, Delta, and Anambra.
Another syndicate leader, Adejumo Elijah Ishola, 37, was arrested by a special operations unit of the Agency on November 5 at Seme border in Lagos, while returning from Ghana with 3.3 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of synthetic cannabis. This arrest followed months of surveillance on his cross-border activities.
Meanwhile, Babafemi stated that NDLEA operatives at Apapa Seaport in Lagos on November 6 intercepted 31,750,000 pills of 240mg Voltron, a controlled opioid, concealed in a container from India, disguised as diclofenac sodium 100mg tablets.
The discovery was made during a joint examination of the container with officers from Customs and other security agencies.
At the Lagos International Airport, NDLEA officers on November 5 intercepted a 700-gram consignment of Loud, a potent strain of cannabis.
A software engineer, Olu Marshal, who arrived to collect the package, was promptly arrested, and a search of his home in Lekki uncovered drug paraphernalia, including a cannabis grinder.
An attempt by another suspect, Orji Ogbonna Nnaorji, to smuggle 32.50 kg of codeine syrup and 5.70 kg of cannabis to London, UK, concealed within a tiger nuts shipment at the airport export shed, was thwarted by NDLEA operatives. A follow-up operation led to Orji’s arrest at his warehouse in Ajao Estate, Lagos.
In Kwara State, NDLEA operatives seized 162,800 opioid pills from four suspects during interdiction operations in various areas.
Wahab Alao Saliu was found with 112,200 tablets of tramadol, while Dalha Musa was caught with 18,900 pills in Eiyenkorin, Ilorin.
Ahmed Isiaka was found with 29,000 tramadol pills, 200 ampoules of diazepam, and 99 bottles of codeine syrup, while Ahmed Garba had 2,500 tramadol tablets at Bode Saadu in Moro LGA.
In Abuja, NDLEA operatives intercepted a truck along the Abaji-Kwali road on November 7, containing 755.50 kg of cannabis concealed under empty noodle cartons.
The driver, Lukman Rasheed, claimed the bags of cannabis were loaded in Ogbese, Ondo State, after leaving Lagos with only empty noodle cartons.
On November 4, NDLEA operatives in Taraba State arrested Yusuf Abubakar in Ibi while transporting 361 compressed blocks of cannabis, weighing 156.95 kg, to Kano in a commercial bus marked WKR 772 XA.
On November 7, 245 blocks of the same substance, weighing 121 kg, were also seized along the Wukari-Ibi road.
Two suspects, Hamza Yakubu and Abdulra’uf Danjuma, were arrested on November 6 at Gidan Manjagab, Jos, Plateau State, with 113 blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 141 kg.
Additionally, a Chadian national, Hassan Muhammad Ali, was detained on November 5 at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria-Kano road, with 3,000 pills of 225mg tramadol.
In Kaduna State, a suspect, Ibrahim Adamu, was arrested in Jere with 35 sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 338.8 kg.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 1,078 kg of cannabis at Okhuokhuo-Isi forest and 228 kg of the same substance at Sabo-Auchi on Friday.
In Ondo State, four suspects, Friday Daniel, Patrick Felix, Samuel Agada, and Igwe Chukwukawere arrested in Emure Ile with 672 kg of cannabis sativa, while 513 kg of the substance was seized at Gbodo camp, Ikun Akoko, and a total of 4,908 kg was recovered from Musibau Kosama in Alabi Yellow, Ijoka area of Akure on November 6.
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