The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted opioid shipments worth over N3.4 billion in major operations across Port Harcourt and Lagos, marking one of the largest drug seizures in recent months.
In a bust at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex in Onne, Rivers State, NDLEA officers in collaboration with Customs Service officials discovered two million pills of tafrodol 225mg and 163,000 bottles of codeine syrup during an examination of a watch-listed container on April 29.
Simultaneously, authorities confiscated 1.5 million pills of controlled opioids from suspect Olarenwaju Wahab in the Alaba-Rago area of Ojo, Lagos. Investigators traced the source of the consignment to a residence in Victoria Garden City, Lekki, belonging to Obinna Kenneth, who remains at large.
Airport Interceptions
At Lagos’ Murtala Muhammed International Airport, NDLEA operatives intercepted 42 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent cannabis strain weighing 20kg. The drugs were ingeniously concealed in tins of chocolate, Milo beverage, and various beans that arrived on a British Airways flight from Canada. Three suspects, including the consignment receiver Monsurat Ewawunmi Lawson, were arrested between April 30 and May 3.
In another airport operation, businessman Bobby Morris Osas was apprehended on May 2 while attempting to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Italy with 8,130 pills of tramadol in various strengths.
The agency also thwarted an attempt to ship 104 grams of tramadol and skunk hidden in bottles of body cream to Iraq through a Lagos courier company on April 28.
Explosives Seizure
In a particularly alarming development, NDLEA operatives intercepted a commercial vehicle on the Kaduna-Zaria expressway containing 942 explosives concealed in a sack. The vehicle, travelling from Nasarawa State to Zamfara State, was stopped on May 3, leading to the arrest of 30-year-old Nura Sani Muhammad, also known as Nura Hariji.
NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) has directed that the suspect and explosives be transferred to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
Other Major Operations
The week saw several other significant seizures:
- Five members of a drug syndicate led by Aminu Musa (alias Kadagi) were arrested at Dangoro market in Kano with 50 blocks of skunk weighing 21.6kg
- In Edo state, a vehicle carrying assorted opioids from Onitsha to Auchi was intercepted, yielding 314,020 pills of various controlled substances, 638 bottles of codeine syrup, and 200 ampoules of pentazocine injection
- In Anambra state, authorities seized 50,400 capsules of tramadol, 500 tablets of co-codamol, and 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection
- A truck stopped in Niger state yielded 5,500 capsules of tramadol and 2,300 ampoules of pentazocine injection
Wanted Kingpin Arrested
After a 10-month investigation, NDLEA operatives arrested Dominic Chiegozie Obijiaku, the 52-year-old Managing Director of Ovidaq International Ltd. Obijiaku was wanted for his involvement in the importation of over 2.6 million pills of tramadol intercepted at Apapa seaport in July 2024. A follow-up search of his Lekki residence uncovered 51 wraps of Canadian Loud cannabis.
The NDLEA continues its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities across the country, with recent educational programmes at Al-istigama University in Kano and Government Girls Junior Secondary School in Kankia, Katsina State.
Brig. Gen. Marwa commended the officers involved in these operations for maintaining what he described as “a fair balance between drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts” nationwide.
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