NDLEA intercepts N3bn opioids at Lagos airport, arrests man with 72 cocaine wraps - Premium Times Nigeria
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted 2.55 million tablets of opioids worth more than N3 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
According to a statement on Sunday by the NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the drugs, weighing 1,640.55kg, were seized on Tuesday, 22 September, during a joint examination of three consignments at the airportβs import shed.
The consignments contained Tramaking 225mg, Tramaking 250mg and Royal Tapentadol 250mg. They were imported from India and Bangladesh through Qatar Airways, RwandAir and Ethiopian Airlines.
The seizure adds to a series of major opioid interceptions reported at the Lagos airport this year.
In August, the NDLEA said it seized 3.9 million tablets of Tramaking and Tapentadol, weighing 2,787.40 kg and valued at more than N4.6 billion.
In May, it reported another seizure of 1,825,710 tablets of Tapentadol 250mg, which it valued at N2.19 billion.
At the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, NDLEA operatives arrested a 25-year-old businessman, Lovely Chukwulobelu, who allegedly ingested 72 wraps of cocaine before attempting to travel to Portugal.
Mr Chukwulobelu was arrested at the departure hall on Thursday, 25 September, while preparing to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Portugal through Addis Ababa.
The agency said it placed him under observation, and he later excreted all 72 wraps.
NDLEA noted that the suspect was wearing a wedding ring when he was arrested. He told investigators that he previously operated a car decoration business at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo, Lagos.
He relocated to Portugal in May 2023 but returned to Nigeria for his wedding on 13 September.
The NDLEA stated that he told investigators that he became involved in drug trafficking to raise money to offset expenses from the wedding.
In Oyo State, operatives arrested two Togolese nationals, Yinusa Abdulsamad, 35, and Fatai Baba, 33, along the Iganna-Ilero Road in Iganna in the Kajola Local Government Area of Oyo State, on Saturday.
The agency noted that the men were using two pickup vans to transport 305.6kg of cannabis allegedly sourced from Ghana.
At the Seme border in Badagry, Lagos, five other men were arrested with 420 cartons of nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
The consignment weighed 1,688.4kg and was allegedly being transported from the border into Lagos in two vehicles.
The suspects were identified as Kingsley John, 40; John Chibuike Okeke, 44; Lamidi Ismaila, 40; Babatunde Samuel, 42; and Afeesu Idowu, 47.
In Bauchi State, NDLEA operatives arrested Umar Hamidu, 35, and Abdulkarim Salihu, 45, along the Maiduguri bypass.
They were allegedly carrying 300 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 262.5kg, concealed in a false compartment of a truck marked MUB757 YH.
In Edo State, operatives, assisted by soldiers, destroyed two cannabis farms at Eko Camp, Ilushi, on Wednesday, 23 September.
The farms had an estimated combined yield of 1,360.23kg of cannabis, the agency said.
In Lagos, two women, Odumabo Kehinde, 36, and Obiekwe Chioma, 40, were arrested during a raid on Anifowoshe Street, Mushin, on Saturday.
The NDLEA said 3.4kg of cannabis was recovered from them.
In a separate operation the same day, operatives arrested 58-year-old Ugwu Johnson at Ebute-Ero motor park.
The agency said officers recovered 5.920kg of cannabis, 2,400 ampoules of pentazocine injection, 8,400 tablets of nitrazepam and 40,000 pills of tramadol from him.
The NDLEA also said its commands across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities during the week.
Its chairman, Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations.
Mr Marwa, a retired brigadier general, urged them to sustain efforts to curb drug trafficking and abuse.
