The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two trailers heading to Kano from Lagos, in a major operation targeting a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
The agency said the intelligence-led operation followed the earlier seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills concealed in a truck that entered Nigeria through the same route.
According to the NDLEA, one of the trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg hidden in a specially fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor.
The 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.Two days later, operatives tracked and intercepted a second trailer on the same route, recovering 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a similar compartment.
The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, also 22, was arrested.Investigations revealed that the three intercepted consignments seized on June 21, July 2 and July 4 were linked to the same transnational drug trafficking network.
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing a combined 4.7 kilograms.
The illicit drugs arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, respectively, concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.”Three suspects, identified as Ali Rotimi Samson, Orimolade Oluwagbenga and Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments.
Further investigations led to the arrest of a 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme, in Surulere, Lagos, on July 7 in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Area C Command.Chioma reportedly confessed that a Canada-based associate, Agbons Collins, introduced her to the illicit drug trade.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested an 80-year-old suspect, Chika Ugwoji, at Ahoada on July 14. He was allegedly found in possession of 800 grams of skunk, a strain of cannabis.Similarly, in Edo State, a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested after operatives raided a drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City.
The operation led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud with a total weight of 192.67 kilograms.In another interdiction operation, a Chadian national, Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos following the seizure of 50,000 tramadol 225mg pills intercepted in Kogi State on July 12.
Investigations traced the consignment to the suspects, who were later apprehended in the Apapa area of Lagos.
Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations, describing the seizures and arrests as a significant blow to drug trafficking networks.
“We will continue to disrupt drug trafficking networks and ensure those involved in the illicit trade are brought to justice. Our resolve to safeguard communities from the dangers of drug abuse remains unwavering,” Marwa said.
The agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign across the country, conducting sensitisation programmes in schools and communities, including Government Day Junior Secondary School, Bakori, Katsina State, and Colliery Technical School, Ngwo, Enugu State.
