CRIME: NDLEA STOPS SHIPMENTS OF FRESH CODEINE WORTH N9.8BN FROM INDIA

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This is barely three weeks after seizing 6,125 cartons of the same product containing 1,050,000 bottles worth ₦7.35bn in street value, at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers state.

The most recent seizure occurred on Thursday, July 18, 2024, and represents the fourth and final set of consignments that the agency’s Maritime Special Operations Unit Targetting Team had been keeping an eye on. The team collaborated with the Port Harcourt Ports Command of the Agency and other security organisations, including the Customs Service, to conduct a 100% joint examination of the targeted containers.

According to a statement released on Friday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters in Abuja, the achievement was made possible by reliable intelligence and months of painstaking tracing of the shipments from their port of departure.

It said, “At the joint examination of the containers with other security agencies on Thursday, all seven containers were found bearing a total of 8,774 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup with 1, 229, 400 bottles weighing 184,410 kilograms.

“A breakdown of the shipments that came from India via the Maersk Vigo Vessel shows that the container marked SEKU 6439421 has 875 cartons with 175,000 bottles of codeine weighing 26,250kg.”

The cargo also contains 55 cartons of Hyregra tablets weighing 1,100 kg and 70 cartons of chilli cutters.

875 cartons with 175,000 bottles of codeine, totaling 26,250 kg, are found in another container with the marking CMAU 9410422.

The cargo also contains sixty cartons weighing 1,200 kg of Hyregra tablets and fifteen cartons of chilli cutters.

Additionally, there are 1, 754 cartons of codeine syrup totaling 179, 400 bottles weighing 26,910 kg in the container identified as TLLU 75955003.

Four further containers, identified as TRHU 515117, CMAU 7877125, CMAU 8533700, and CMAU 3882205, each hold 175,000 bottles of the same material. To conceal the shipments, additional products include diclofenac, cartons of Hyregra tablets, and chilli cutters.

Brig Rtd Gen Mohamed Marwa, Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, praised the men and women officers of the agency’s various formations who had been working on the targeted containers for months for their professionalism, vigilance, and diligence in his response to the most recent seizure.

He also expressed gratitude for the assistance other port stakeholders provided, which made it possible for the operations to target the cargo to go smoothly and successfully.

He said that the operation had further weakened the cartels’ capabilities and financial foundation by causing them to suffer significant losses.