The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted consignments of cocaine concealed in a local mortar and the false bottom of a backpack packaged for shipment to China and Italy through a logistics company in Lagos.
The agency said the seizures were made by operatives of its Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) on Thursday, July 30.
According to the NDLEA, officers recovered 250 grams of cocaine factory-fitted into the base of a local mortar packaged for export to China and another 500 grams hidden in the false bottom of a backpack destined for Italy.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested a 38-year-old suspected drug dealer, Ugo Gift Okonkwo, at Eagle Island Port, Port Harcourt, following intelligence reports.
The agency said various quantities of cannabis, cocaine, methamphetamine, swinol, tramadol and codeine syrup were recovered from the suspect at the time of arrest.
The anti-narcotics agency also intercepted a truck loaded with 26,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 3,960 kilograms during a stop-and-search operation at DMGS Roundabout in Onitsha, Anambra State. The truck driver, identified as Chinedu Nwanze, 40, was arrested.
In Delta State, officers recovered 331.84 kilograms of skunk from a Toyota Sienna bus along the Kwale/Ughelli Expressway, while in Nasarawa State, a 64-year-old suspect, Joseph Nwaeke, was arrested with 68 kilograms of skunk and 29 grams of methamphetamine in Karu Local Government Area.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives on patrol along the Zaria-Gusau Highway in Zamfara State intercepted a 27-year-old suspect, Sani Umar, conveying 7,400 pills of 225mg tramadol believed to be supplies for criminal elements.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said its commands across the country intensified the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Awareness lectures were held at Hausawa Special Primary School in Kano, Royal Crown School in Oluyole, Ibadan, Government Secondary School in Ibi, Taraba State, and for commercial drivers at Challenge Bus Terminal Park in Ibadan, among other locations.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control through aggressive enforcement and continuous public sensitisation.
