The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency ( NDLEA) in collaboration with other stakeholders, including the Nigeria Customs Service has seized 143,800,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg at Apapa Port in Lagos.
The agency in a statement on Sunday said the drugs were discovered inside 720 cartons weighing 10.3tons (10,386kgs) on Friday, March 32.
According to the statement, the discovery was made during a joint examination of two containers marked TRHU 4758549 and TRHU 6936803.
Spokesman of the NDLEA said in the statement that the opioid pills, which were mixed with cartons of sweets were imported from India.
“The interception followed credible intelligence and the co-operation of sister agencies.
“In the same vein, officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigations (DOGI) intercepted at a courier firm a cargo of 1.5kg cocaine concealed in a carton declared to contain hair cream, shampoo, hair rollers, and burners, going to London, UK.
“In Kaduna, operatives on Monday 27th March raided Dan Wata village, Soba LGA where they arrested one Abdurrashid Musa, 33, with 142.8kg cannabis while the principal suspect, Ibro Danwata is still at large, while another suspect, Shamsu Abdullahi (aka Waja), 35, was also arrested the previous day during a follow-up operation at Rigasa , Kaduna after he had abandoned 80,000 tablets of Diazepam weighing 13.4kg and escaped arrest earlier.
“No less than 63 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 600kg stored in a house at Okpe village in Akoko-Edo LGA were recovered on Friday 31st March when operatives raided the area, while a raid of a warehouse owned by one Shehi Mallam at tomatoes market, Dei Dei Abuja same day led to the seizure of 80 sacks of cannabis sativa weighing 842.4 kilograms.
“In Cross River, 12,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg were seized from a female passenger, Talatu Sale Adamu, 46, when NDLEA officers intercepted the commercial bus she was travelling in along Ogoja/ Katsina-Ala road on Monday 27th March.
“While a suspect, Abraham Alaigwu was arrested at Slaughter, Trans/Amadi area of Port Harcourt, Rivers state with 91.7kg of cannabis on Thursday 30th March, 228kg of the same substance was seized from Ayodele Osuya, 35, in a Toyota Camry car around Quarter Guard area of Akure, Ondo state,” the statement said.
In his reaction to the seizures and arrests, the Chairman of NDLEA, retired Brig. – Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa expressed his gratitude to operatives of Apapa, DOGI, Edo, Cross River, Rivers, Kaduna, FCT, and Ondo Commands for their resilience, professionalism.
He also expressed satisfaction with their excellent synergy with other security agencies in their areas of responsibility.
Marwa charged them and their colleagues across the country to continue to raise the bar in their daily official activities.(vitalnewsngr.com)