Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a total of 31,124,600 pills of tramadol 225mg and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over ₦17,932,200,000 in street value at the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, Rivers State and Tincan seaport in Lagos.
The seizures were made following intelligence processed by NDLEA on the movement of the shipments from their port of origin in India, leading to a demand for a 100 percent joint examination of the watch-listed containers with the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and other sister security agencies.
The Director, Media and Advocacy of the Agency, Mr. Femi Babafemi in a statement on Sunday noted that a breakdown of the seizures showed that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on Thursday, August 29 and Friday 30, 2024 respectively.
Babafemi disclosed that each of the two containers had 175,000 bottles of the opioid.
“At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted a total of 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing Twenty-Nine Million Eight Hundred and Forty Thousand (29, 840,000) pills of the opioid as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on Thursday 29th August. The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
“The following day, Friday 30th August, another set of three containers watch-listed by NDLEA were subjected to joint examination. At the end of the exercise, a total of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles of the opioid were recovered from them.
“This brings the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000.00 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood at 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000.00,” the statement read
Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers State on Tuesday, August 27 arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage.
Don’s attempt to compromise the officers to evade arrest was rebuffed.
The statement further read: “No less than 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim when he was arrested on Monday 26th August along Orchid road, Ajah, Lagos, while 816kg of the same psychoactive substance belonging to a suspect at large was recovered from the same location same day.
“In Niger state, NDLEA operatives on Monday 26th August arrested a suspect Friday Gabriel along Minna-Suleja road while conveying 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets. Similarly, operatives in Bauchi state on Saturday 31st August arrested two suspects: Garba Muhammed, 35; and Usman Yakubu Shehu, 31, along Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, concealed in false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo state URM 38 ZY.”
However, the Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week.
The activities include: WADA enlightenment lecture to members of Amankwu community, Ohafia LGA, Abia State; WADA advocacy visit to the Vice Chancellor, University of Delta, Prof. Stella Chiemeka, Agbor, Delta State and WADA sensitisation lecture to members of Down Luggere community, Jimeta, Yola North LGA, Adamawa State.
Others are youths at the ‘Save the Children Campaign’ annual holiday camp at Community Secondary School, Aka Offot, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State; youths during their summer class at Olubadan Stadium, Iyaganku, Ibadan, Oyo State and WADA advocacy visit to Central Bank, Kaduna office, Kaduna State.
On the latest seizures and arrests, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa commended all the officers and men of PHPC, Tincan and the Special Operations Unit of the Agency that had been working on the targeted containers for their vigilance and professionalism.
Gen. Marwa lauded the support received from other stakeholders at the ports that enabled the seamless and successful operations in the course of targeting the shipments.
He also applauded operatives in Lagos, Niger, Bauchi and PHIA as well as other Commands across the country for their diligence and balance in their drug demand reduction and drug supply reduction efforts.
