Agency Intercepts 1.3 Million Opioid Pills, 6,000kg Cannabis in Nationwide Operations
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted more than 1.3 million pills and capsules of tramadol and other opioids, alongside about 6,000kg of cannabis, in operations across Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and the FCT.
The agency said the seizures have a combined estimated street value of more than ₦3.4 billion.
A major breakthrough was recorded at the Tin-Can Island Port in Lagos, where NDLEA operatives seized 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg and valued at ₦1.81 billion.
The cannabis was concealed inside 31 black jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles inside a 40-foot container shipped from Montreal, Canada.
In Delta State, NDLEA operatives arrested 49-year-old Innocent Ekpe along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba with 292.48kg of skunk hidden in his Toyota Sienna bus.
The agency said Ekpe allegedly impersonated a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged identity card in the name of Godwin Emeka to evade checkpoints while transporting drugs. His alleged accomplice, 39-year-old Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.
In Edo State, operatives arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai at an auto-repair workshop on Agbor Road, Benin City, where 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152g of methamphetamine were recovered.
In Niger State, two suspects, Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, were arrested along the Abaji-Abuja Highway with more than 1.1 million assorted tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets.
NDLEA also reported the arrest of three suspects in Niger State with locally fabricated firearms and ammunition, while 154,480 tramadol capsules were recovered from two suspects in Gombe.
In Lagos, the agency recovered 48,900 tramadol 225mg pills from Onyeka Ofor in Aguda, Surulere, while 59kg of cannabis was intercepted at a logistics company. Another suspect, Ibrahim Hudu, was arrested in Apongbo with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas.
In Imo State, 43.85kg of skunk was recovered from a suspect along the Owerri-Onitsha Road.
In Ondo State, NDLEA operatives arrested four suspects during a raid on a two-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu Forest and destroyed about 5,000kg of cannabis. Another 48kg of dry and fresh cannabis was recovered.
The agency said its commands also continued drug-abuse prevention campaigns under the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) initiative in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain what he described as a balanced approach to drug control.