Nigeria’s War On Drugs: NDLEA Seizes N16.6 Billion Opioids, Intercepts US, Europe-Bound Consignments

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dealt a big blow to drug traffickers, intercepting massive consignments of opioids and other illicit substances at Nigerian seaports and airports. The agency recovered 2,760 kg of cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in shoes and hair attachments.

Some consignments of opioids concealed in the soles of shoes and hair attachments heading to the United States, United Kingdom, and Cyprus were intercepted at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, and three courier companies in the state.

The anti-drug agency recovered 2,760 kg of illicit consignments in a Lagos shrine and an underground storage facility in Lekki.

According to NDLEA, a total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in the soles of 13 pairs of shoes going to Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 12th October 2024, with an additional 380 tablets recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu on Thursday, 24th October.

The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said a cash sum of N968,880 and a Toyota Avalon car marked UWN 389 AS were also recovered from the suspect at the time of his arrest.

Not less than 293 ampoules of promethazine and pentazocine injections, as well as 1.690 kg of cannabis and tramadol tablets concealed in hair attachments and the soles of shoes going to the United States, United Kingdom, and Oman, were intercepted at three courier firms by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) in Lagos on Thursday, 24th October.

In the same vein, a total of Twenty-Six Million Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand (26,250,000) pills of tramadol, as well as Five Hundred and Eight Thousand Four Hundred (508,400) bottles of codeine-based syrup worth Sixteen Billion Six Hundred and Eighty-Three Million Eight Hundred Thousand Naira (N16,683,800,000) in street value, were intercepted by NDLEA operatives during a 100 per cent joint examination of watch-listed containers with officers of the Customs Service and other security agencies at the Tincan port in Lagos and the Port Harcourt port, Onne, Rivers State, between Tuesday, 22nd and Wednesday, 23rd October.

Other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers included 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700 kg at Tincan and Onne, respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28 kg, were also recovered from a container that arrived at the Lagos port from Canada.

A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested at the Ago Palace area of Okota, Lagos, in connection with the cannabis seizure, while a bribe of N10 million paid to NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Friday, 25th October, raided the Igbo-Igunuko shrine, located at Alfa Beach, Ajah, where jumbo bags of Ghanaian Loud, a strain of cannabis, weighing 2,760 kg were recovered, and two suspects, Gbenga Abiodun and Sunday Abiodun, were arrested.

Another suspect, Ademola Oyelakin, was also arrested the same day with 770 kg of the same psychoactive substance along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. A total of 11,786 pills of tramadol, molly, rohypnol, and diazepam, as well as 64 bottles of codeine syrup, were recovered from the underground storage that a suspect, Muhammad Warnos Abdullahi, dug in his bedroom at Marwa Coastal Road, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos, when NDLEA officers raided his home on Friday, 25th October. The suspect had dug the illicit drug storage deep in his room, covering it with a padlocked iron slate, a rug, and then placing his mattress on top to avoid detection.

In Plateau, a suspect, Fadan Bindom, 39, was arrested at Pilgani village in possession of 65.85 kg of cannabis and 18 grams of tramadol, while another suspect, Sunday Agbata, 42, was nabbed at Pavwei-Rayfield, Jos South LGA, with 5,830 tablets and ampoules of bromazepam, diazepam, and pentazocine injections on Wednesday, 23rd October.

A major distributor of illicit drugs in FCT Abuja, Umar Muhammed, 40, was nabbed on Monday, 21st October, following the earlier seizure of a consignment of 198.5 kg of cannabis linked to him at Wuse Market Park.

In Edo State, NDLEA operatives recovered 640 kg of cannabis concealed in 80 jumbo bags of fresh vegetables at Ewu Junction, Irrua, Esan Central LGA, and arrested a suspect, Austin Oruamen, 27. Another suspect, Adereti Kazeem, 35, was nabbed with 200 blocks of cannabis weighing 133 kg at Obalayan, Ile-Ife, Osun State, on Thursday, 24th October.

With the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities among others in the past week.

These include WADA sensitisation lectures to students and staff of Government Girls Secondary School, Tambuwal, Sokoto; St. Mary College, Awka, Anambra State; Prime Rose Model Private College, Saki, Oyo State; Community Model Arabic College, Malumfashi, Katsina State; Community Junior Secondary School, Rumuomasi, Rivers State; and WADA advocacy lectures to Rugar Alhaji Manu Unguwan Sullubawa, Gombi, Adamawa State, among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Tincan, PHPC, Lagos, FCT, Osun, Plateau, and Edo Commands of the agency, as well as those of DOGI for the arrests and seizures, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, are well appreciated.