The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has thwarted deliberate efforts to bring into Nigeria 126.95 kilograms of cocaine and skunk concealed in herbal tea packs and imported vehicles by drug cartels from Brazil and Canada.at the Enugu International Airport and the Tincan seaport in Lagos.
At the Enugu airport, the Director, Media and Advocacy of the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday that, an Ethiopian Airline male passenger, Eze Christian Ikenna, coming from Brazil via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was intercepted on arrival at the airport at about 12:30pm on Friday and a search of his two bags revealed 19 big sachets which he claimed to contain herbal tea but were later found to be cocaine weighing 16.20 kilograms.
In the same vein, a joint examination carried out on a container marked TCLU 7799237 from Montreal, Canada at Sifax Okota Bonded Terminal by NDLEA operatives attached to Tincan Command of the Agency on 18th January led to the discovery of 110.75kgs of cannabis Indica concealed in two of the four vehicles in the container: a 2011 Toyota Sienna and a 2011 Honda Pilot SUV.
Deliberate efforts to cut access to illicit opioids by the Agency again paid off on Tuesday when a consignment of Tramadol that, NDLEA operatives have been tracking for some months was eventually traced to a warehouse at Greenfield estate, Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos.
The statement said, when the store was opened, a total of 1,645,560 pills of Tramadol 100mg, 200mg and 225mg were recovered and added that, another 60,000 pills of Tramadol 250mg were equally recovered from a wanted drug dealer, Diugwu Alphonsus in Bariga area of the state same day while raids carried out in Akala area of Mushin on18th and 20th January led to the recovery of 781.7kgs of cannabis.
In Osun state, NDLEA officers on Friday, took into custody a blind 67-year-old grandpa, Aliyu Adebiyi, in whose house they found 234 kilograms of cannabis at Sokoto village, Owena Ijesa, Atakumosa East LGA. In his statement, he said a drug dealer kept the consignment with him for a fee of N6,000 per month and paid for three months upfront.
Similarly, a leper notorious for drug dealing, Haruna Abdullahi, was arrested at Garko town, Kano on Thursday, while 2.2kgs of cannabis and various quantities of Diazepam and Exol were recovered from him.
According to Babat, not less than 370kgs of cannabis were recovered from a sawmill at Ilale, Owo in Ondo State when operatives stormed the industrial plant following credible intelligence.
In Edo state, 261 kilograms of the illicit substance were seized from a suspect, Uche Monday at Uneme-Osu, Ososo Road in Akoko Edo area of the state with another 74kgs evacuated from a bush at Okpela fertiliser community in Etsako East LGA.
In Abuja, NDLEA operatives on 16th January raided Lugbe area of the FCT based on credible intelligence that a dealer was operating in a batcher on the outskirt of the town and a search of the batcher led to the recovery of 42.9kgs cannabis, 15grams cocaine, 137grams Methamphetamine, and a cash of N2,148,500 only, believed to be proceeds of the criminal trade.
While reacting to the seizures and arrests by the Lagos, AIIA, Tincan, Osun, Kano, Ondo, Edo and FCT Commands in the past week, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), commended all the officers involved in the operations and charged them and their compatriots across the country to remain steadfast and focused on winning the war against substance abuse and illicit drug trafficking in Nigeria.
