Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a total of 25 million pills of tapentadol, an opioid three times stronger than tramadol and 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Tincan port complex in Lagos.
The seizures were made on Tuesday, September 20, and Friday, September 20, 2024, from three containers on the NDLEA’s watchlist following processed intelligence.
As a result, the NDLEA requested that the shipments be examined 100% jointly by men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies.
The 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of Thirteen Billion Seven Hundred and Twenty-Five Million Naira (N13,725,000,000.00). In contrast, the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of Two Billion Four Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N2,450,000,000.00), bringing the total value of the seizures to Sixteen Billion One Hundred and Seventy-Five Million Naira (N16,175,000,000.00).
One of the containers contained the 500-carton tapentadol consignment, which was discovered on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. The same day, another container containing 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine packed in 875 cartons was examined. The third container containing 175,000 bottles of CSC cough syrup with codeine was examined on Friday, September 20, 2024.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Lagos State Strategic Command of the NDLEA on Friday, September 20, 2024, arrested an 80-year-old grandfather, Pa Aremu Shojobi, with 14 kilograms of cannabis at his home in Iyana Ipaja area of the state. In his statement, the Octogenarian claimed he has been in the business of selling illicit drugs for 25 years. He further claimed he gets his supplies from the Benin Republic and sells them to his customers from his residence between 7am and 10pm daily.
The NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, raided the two homes of a community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry West LCDA, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, where a total of 226kg of cannabis was recovered from his two wives and son.
Though Alhaji Talba is currently at large, a search of his house in Ashipa area of Seme Badagry led to the recovery of 93 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 57.6kg from his first wife, Asma’u Bashiru, 35, and son, Sadat Bashiru, 22, while another search of his house at Aketegbo area of Seme Badagry led to the seizure of 302 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 168.6kg from his second wife Hauwa Bashir, 42.
No less than 720 blocks of Arizona, a strain of cannabis weighing 390kg were also recovered from a Mitsubishi delivery van marked MUS 720 XH at Ojo area of Lagos on Monday 16th September.
At the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, September 15, 2024, arrested a 38-year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony while attempting to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha with 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach. After three days in excretion observation, Okafor excreted the 76 pellets of the ingested cocaine weighing 1.267kg.
In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday 17th September recovered 700,000 pills of exol-5 coming from Lagos for distribution in Kano and Kaduna, while a suspect Udemefuna Chibuike, 23, was arrested by operatives on Friday 20th September along Mokwa-Jebba road, Niger state, in possession of 49,000 tablets of tramadol, 20,000 tablets of diazepam, 100 ampoules of tramadol injection and 50 bottles of cough syrup with codeine.
A total of 451 blocks of cannabis weighing 213kg were intercepted along Azikiwe road, Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Wednesday, 18th of September, by NDLEA officers who apprehended a suspect Ogochukwu Paul, 33, conveying the consignment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.
While operatives in Plateau state on Friday 20th of September arrested a wanted suspect Jonathan Ali Abuttur, 46, at Agingi- Rukuba road Bassa LGA in possession of 808kg of cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertilizer, their counterparts in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28kg of the same psychoactive substance.
The commands and formations of the NDLEA across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitization activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Rayhaan Model Academy, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state; Government Day Secondary School, Danrimi, Malumfashi LGA,Katsina state; Technical College, Ihe-Achi, Oji River LGA, Enugu state; Corpus Christi College, Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti state; fresh students of Oyo State College of Health Science and Technology, Eleyele Ibadan, Oyo state; traders at Agboju market, Festac town, Lagos and the palace of Oloola of Ilara, Oba Mutiu Adedimeji Lawal Oyede and his chiefs, at Ilara, Ogun state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of Tincan, MAKIA, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Kogi, Edo and Kwara Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.
