THE National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol (250mg) concealed in specially fabricated compartments of two articulated trucks.
According to a statement sent to News Point Nigeria by the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday, the intelligence-led operation followed the seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills recovered from a truck on the same route barely a week earlier, bringing the total number of tramadol pills intercepted from the syndicate in recent operations to more than 2.18 million.
It also revealed that one of the trucks, which was headed for Kano, was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Operatives discovered 853,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) hidden in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor and arrested the driver.
A second truck was tracked and intercepted on the same expressway on July 4 while also en route to Kano. Officers recovered 777,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) concealed in a similar compartment beneath the trailer’s cargo floor and arrested another driver.
Investigations by the agency revealed that the three trucks intercepted on June 21, July 2 and July 4 belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking network smuggling illicit drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives 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 consignments, which arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, were concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.”
The agency said investigations led to the arrest of cargo agents linked to the shipments, as well as another suspect who attempted to collect the consignments from a logistics company. Further investigations resulted in the arrest of the alleged owner of the drugs in collaboration with the Nigeria Police.
Elsewhere, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested an 80-year-old man allegedly involved in the distribution of illicit substances after he was found in possession of 800 grams of skunk during an operation in Ahoada on July 14.
In Edo State, a couple was arrested following a raid on an alleged 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 weighing 192.67 kilograms.
Meanwhile, operatives also arrested two suspects in Lagos following the seizure of 50,000 pills of tramadol (225mg) in Kogi State on July 12. The agency said investigations linked the consignment to the suspects, who were subsequently tracked and apprehended in the Apapa area of Lagos.
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said it continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign across the country, delivering sensitisation lectures in secondary schools in Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states as part of efforts to educate young people on the dangers of drug abuse.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended officers of the agency’s commands in Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi for the arrests and seizures, describing the operations as significant contributions to the country’s ongoing drug control efforts.
He urged personnel to remain vigilant in sustaining the fight against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.