NDLEA INTERCEPTS 1.63 MILLION TRAMADOL PILLS, ARRESTS 80-YEAR-OLD SUSPECT, OTHERS
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By Aishat Momoh. O.
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two articulated trucks heading to Kano, as it intensified efforts to dismantle a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency also arrested an 80-year-old suspected drug dealer in Rivers State, a businesswoman linked to cannabis shipments from Canada, a Chadian woman, a couple and several other suspects in coordinated anti-drug operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the development in a statement issued on Sunday.
According to Babafemi, the latest operation came barely one week after operatives recovered 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in a false-bottom compartment of a truck that entered Lagos through the Togo-Benin Republic route.
He said one of the two trailers, carrying 853,000 pills of tramadol (250mg), was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after intelligence operatives tracked the vehicle. The illicit drugs were concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the trailer’s cargo floor.
The agency arrested the truck driver, 22-year-old Jabir Kabiru, during the operation.
Babafemi said a second trailer was intercepted on the same route on July 4 while heading to Kano, leading to the recovery of another 777,000 tramadol pills concealed in a similar hidden compartment. The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, also 22, was arrested.
According to the NDLEA spokesman, investigations revealed that the three intercepted consignments recovered on June 21, July 2 and July 4 belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating across the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 4.70 kilograms, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.
The consignments, concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu,” arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3.
Two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested, while another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after attempting to collect the shipments from a logistics company.
Further investigation led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified as the owner of the consignments.
According to Babafemi, Mokeme, who claimed to be a printer, confessed that a Canada-based associate, Agbons Collins, introduced her to the illicit trade.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested an 80-year-old suspect, Chika Ugwoji, at Ahoada after recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.
In Edo State, operatives also arrested a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, during a raid on their warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City.
The operation led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67 kilograms.
Similarly, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos after investigations linked them to the seizure of 50,000 pills of tramadol intercepted in Kogi State.
Babafemi said the suspects were traced to the Apapa area of Lagos and arrested following intelligence gathered during the investigation.
The NDLEA said investigations into the various cases are ongoing as the agency continues efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks operating within and across Nigeria’s borders.
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