The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million tramadol pills concealed in specially fabricated compartments of two long trailers and arrested members of a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
According to a statement by NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi, the intelligence-led operation followed the seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills from another truck that entered Nigeria through the same route a week earlier.
One of the trailers, travelling to Kano, was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. NDLEA operatives recovered 853,000 pills of 250mg tramadol hidden beneath the cargo floor and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.
A second trailer was intercepted on the same expressway on July 4. Officers discovered another 777,000 pills of 250mg tramadol concealed in a fabricated compartment and arrested the driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu.
Investigations revealed that the three consignments intercepted on June 21, July 2 and July 4 belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate.
In a separate operation at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, NDLEA officers intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 4.70 kilogrammes. The drugs arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu”.
The agency arrested two cargo agents, Ali Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, before apprehending another suspect, Edeh Stanislus, who allegedly attempted to collect the consignments.
NDLEA also arrested the alleged owner of the shipment, 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, on July 7 with support from the Nigeria Police Area C Command in Surulere, Lagos. According to Babafemi, Mokeme claimed she was introduced to the drug trade by a friend, Agbons Collins, who lives in Canada.
Elsewhere, NDLEA operatives in Rivers State arrested an 80-year-old suspect, Chika Ugwoji, in Ahoada after allegedly recovering 800 grammes of skunk from him on July 14.
In Edo State, officers arrested a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, during a raid on an alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City. The operation led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg and 192.67kg of Canadian Loud.
In another operation, the agency arrested Chadian national Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, in Lagos after tracing them to a consignment of 50,000 pills of 225mg tramadol intercepted in Kogi State on July 12.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers involved in the operations, saying their efforts had strengthened the country’s ongoing drug control campaign. He also urged operatives to remain vigilant.
