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 spokesman of the NDLEA, Mr Femi Babafemi said, in a statement on Sunday that, the seizures were made on 17th and 20th September 2024 from three containers which had been on the watchlist of the Agency following processed intelligence.
As a result, the NDLEA had requested for 100% joint examination of the shipments with men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies. The 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of N13,725,000,000.00 while the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of N2,450,000,000.00, bringing the total value of the seizures to N14,950,000,000.00.
The tapentadol consignment packed in 500 cartons was discovered in one of the containers on 17th September while another container examined same day contained 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine packed in 875 cartons. The third container containing 175,000 bottles of CSC cough syrup with codeine was examined on 20th September.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Lagos State Strategic Command of the Agency on Friday, 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 Benin Republic and sells to his customers from his residence between 7 am and 10 pm every day.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on 18th September 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 the 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 and son, Sadat Bashiru, 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.
Babafemi said, 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 15th September 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 of excretion observation, Okafor excreted 76 pellets of the ingested cocaine weighing 1.267kg.
In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday September recovered 700,000 pills of exol-5 coming from Lagos for distribution in Kano and Kaduna, while a suspect Udemefuna Chibuike was arrested by operatives on Friday 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 18th September, by NDLEA officers who apprehended a suspect Ogochukwu Paul conveying the consignment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.
While operatives in Plateau state on Friday arrested a wanted suspect Jonathan Ali Abuttur at Agingi- Rukuba road Bassa LGA in possession of 808kg of cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertiliser, their counterparts in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28kg of the same psychoactive substance.
