Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted several attempts by drug trafficking syndicates to smuggle illicit substances, including methamphetamine and opioids, through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos.
The agency said the drugs were concealed in carton walls, winter jackets and containers of body cream, with plans to move them to destinations in Europe through a courier firm operating in Lagos.
According to NDLEA, two consignments heading to Italy were intercepted during transshipment at the Lagos airport, leading to the arrest of suspects connected to the shipments.
One of the suspects, Friday Ehianuka, 37, was arrested on March 20 while trying to board a flight to Rome. He was found with 2,698 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden inside containers of skin-lightening body cream packed in his luggage. Ehianuka, who resides in Milan, reportedly told investigators he had agreed to deliver the consignment in exchange for payment in euros.
In another operation on March 18, NDLEA operatives at the departure hall intercepted Christian Agbonhese, 38, as he prepared to board a flight to Milan. A detailed search of his luggage revealed 28,470 opioid pills concealed inside two large winter jackets. The seized drugs included tramadol 225mg, tapentadol 250mg and tramadol 100mg. Agbonhese is also said to be a resident of Milan.
At a courier company in Lagos, NDLEA officers on March 16 intercepted two parcels containing 1kg of a strong strain of cannabis known as Loud, which had been shipped from the United States. Officers also stopped an attempt to export 158 grams of methamphetamine hidden inside the walls of a carton destined for New Zealand.
Operations carried out across other states also led to major seizures and arrests. In Kano, operatives arrested Abdulkadir Mamuda, 35, with 102.5kg of skunk at Dan-Tsalle, while another suspect, Uche Johnson Festus, 47, was apprehended the same day at Naibawa Gabas with 95.5kg of the same substance.
In Lagos, a raid on a store in the Otto area of Ijora resulted in the recovery of 21,737 bottles of codeine-based syrup on March 18. On the same day, two suspects, Chidiebere Anigbogu and Paul Nwagbara, were arrested on the Third Mainland Bridge while transporting 8,380 bottles of the same syrup.
NDLEA also recovered 97.5kg of skunk from the residence of a suspect, Akeem Idde, 37, in Ojah, Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State on March 16. In Abuja, operatives intercepted a commercial bus along the Gwagwalada expressway on March 18 and recovered 91,840 tramadol pills hidden in the body compartments of the vehicle. The driver, Aminu Ali, 27, was taken into custody.
In Oyo State, a suspect identified as Bankole Bari was arrested on March 17 at Oke-Oyan in Ibarapa Local Government Area with 71.2kg of skunk allegedly smuggled into Nigeria from the Benin Republic through the Oyan River.
Along the Kaduna-Zaria highway in Kaduna State, NDLEA operatives on March 17 recovered 586,000 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 from a suspect, Lawal Anas, 28. At the same location on March 20, officers also seized 7,290 tablets of tramadol 225mg from another suspect, Musa Shuaibu, 22.
Acting on intelligence in Taraba State, operatives intercepted Aliyu Adamu, 26, along the Takum-Jalingo highway on March 17 while he was transporting 77,660 capsules of tramadol to Gombe.
In Adamawa State, at least six suspects were arrested following the seizure of 82.8kg of tramadol in a truck in Yola on March 17. The suspects, believed to be joint owners of the consignment, include Ramatu Aliyu, Jungudo Abdullahi, Najid Abdullahi, Musa Mohammed, Usman Abdulrahim and Musa Mohammed. They were apprehended in follow-up operations.
Meanwhile, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse sensitization activities in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities over the past week.
These included awareness lectures for students and staff of Girls High School in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State; New State High School in Mushin, Lagos; Cornerstone Secondary School in Sankwala, Cross River State; Community Secondary School in Ngwo-Uno, Udi, Enugu State; and St. John’s Academy in Ipokia Local Government Area of Ogun State, among others.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers and personnel across the MMIA, DOGI, Lagos, Kano, Kaduna, Edo, Oyo, FCT, Taraba and Adamawa commands for the arrests and seizures, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through enforcement and public enlightenment.
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