The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in two articulated trucks heading to Kano from Lagos, in another major breakthrough against a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The anti-narcotic agency also apprehended an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer, a businesswoman, a Chadian woman, a couple and several other suspects in coordinated interdiction operations across Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi states.
The agency’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, who disclosed the development in a statement on Sunday, said the intelligence-driven operation that led the the tramadol seizures was a continuation of ongoing efforts to dismantle an international drug trafficking network smuggling tramadol into Nigeria through neighbouring countries.
According to him, the latest seizures came barely one week after NDLEA operatives recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol concealed in the false bottom compartment of another truck that entered Lagos through the same Togo-Benin Republic route.
Babafemi said one of the two trailers, already heading to Kano, was intercepted on July 2nd, along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives uncovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden inside a specially fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor. The 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.
He said a second trailer was tracked and intercepted on the same expressway on the 4th of July, leading to the recovery of another 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg similarly concealed beneath the truck’s cargo floor. The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, also aged 22, was taken into custody.
“Investigations revealed that all three trucks and consignments intercepted on 21 June, 2 July and 4 July belong to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis,” Babafemi stated.
The agency also recorded another significant breakthrough at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, where operatives intercepted 4.70 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, concealed in cartons boldly labelled “Odugwu”.
The consignments, which arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on 24 June and 3 July respectively, led to the arrest of cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga. Another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was arrested after he arrived to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
Further investigations culminated in the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified as the owner of the illicit consignments. She was apprehended on 7 July in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Area C Command, Surulere, Lagos.
Babafemi said the suspect, who claimed to be a printer, confessed that a friend identified as Agbons Collins, based in Canada, introduced her to the illicit trade.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji at Ahoada after recovering 800 grammes of skunk from him during an operation on 14 July.
In Edo State, operatives raided a suspected drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City, arresting a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilogrammes, alongside compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67 kilogrammes.
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 12 July.
Babafemi said the suspects were traced to the Apapa area of Lagos, where they were subsequently apprehended.
Beyond enforcement, the agency said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign continued nationwide with sensitisation lectures delivered to students and staff of schools in Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their commitment to the fight against illicit drugs.
“Your efforts, alongside those of your compatriots across the country, have contributed in no small measure to ongoing drug control efforts across the nation. Remain vigilant at all times,” Marwa charged the officers.
