NDLEA Seizes N3.4bn Drugs, Arrests Fake Policeman, Mechanic
By Victor Idajili
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized over 1.3 million pills of tramadol and other opioids and about 6,000kg of cannabis worth over N3.4 billion in operations across several states and the FCT.
The agency also intercepted 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 603.75kg and valued at N1.81 billion at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.
Babafemi said the shipment, which arrived from Montreal, Canada, on September 12, was placed under surveillance following intelligence.
He said the 40-foot container was jointly examined with Customs and other security agencies on September 16, where the drugs were found concealed in 31 black jumbo bags inside two Toyota Sienna vehicles.
In Delta State, operatives arrested a 49-year-old man, Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly posed as a senior police officer to evade checkpoints while moving drugs.
Ekpe was arrested on September 16 along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba with 292.48kg of skunk hidden in his silver Toyota Sienna bus.
According to NDLEA, he paraded himself as Godwin Emeka, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged ID card. His accomplice, 39-year-old Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.
In Edo, officers raided an auto workshop on Agbor Road, Benin City, and arrested 45-year-old Matthew Ossai. The agency said 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152g of methamphetamine were recovered from the workshop, which was being used as a cover for storing drugs.
In Niger State, three suspects - Bashir Usman, 20; Abubakar Nuhu, 18; and Abdulrahman Abdulwahab, 18 - were arrested along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway at Chachi in Tafa LGA with two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles, a pistol and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition concealed in a travel bag.
Two other suspects, Aminu Isyaku, 23, and Jamilu Habibu, 25, were arrested on Friday along the Abaji-Abuja Highway with over 1.1 million tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets hidden in eight sacks. They were allegedly moving the drugs from Onitsha to Mararaba, Nasarawa State.
In Lagos, operatives recovered 48,900 pills of tramadol 225mg from Onyeka Ofor at his residence in Aguda, Surulere, while seven cartons of cannabis weighing 59kg were intercepted at a logistics company leading to the arrest of Luke Ugokwe. Another suspect, Ibrahim Hudu, 43, was arrested at Apongbo with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide gas.
In Gombe, 154,480 tramadol capsules were recovered from Sabi'u Umar, 27, and Hassana Muhammad, 19, arrested at Barunde and Gombe Main Market.
In Imo, 25-year-old Ifesinachi Godwin was arrested along Owerri-Onitsha Road with 43.85kg of skunk.
In Ondo, four suspects - Blessing Effiong, Saviour Peter, David Friday Sunday and Ability Peter Sunday - were arrested during a raid on a 2-hectare cannabis farm in Ita-Ogbolu Forest where 5,000kg of cannabis was destroyed. NDLEA said 48kg of processed cannabis was recovered for prosecution.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers and urged them to sustain intelligence-driven operations and a balanced approach to drug control.
