Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted over 3.9 million tablets of illicit opioids worth more than N4.6 billion at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, and arrested a US-returnee in connection with cannabis importation.
The Agency also raided a notorious drug den in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where a fireproof iron safe containing cocaine, heroin and Colorado was cracked open, and made multiple seizures across Ondo and Delta states.
In a statement on Sunday, NDLEA said no fewer than 3,900,030 tablets of Tramaking 225mg and Tapentadol 250mg, with a combined gross weight of 2,787.40 kilograms, were recovered from four abandoned consignments at the import shed of MMIA.
According to the Agency, three of the consignments comprising 900,000 tablets of Tramaking, weighing 815.40kg, arrived aboard RwandAir flights from Bangladesh. The fourth consignment comprised 3,000,030 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 1,972kg and arrived on Qatar Airways from Amsterdam.
The shipments had been placed under close watch after no one showed up to claim them. They were formally retrieved on Friday, 28th August, following a joint examination by NDLEA officers, Customs and other stakeholders.
In a separate operation, a 31-year-old US-returnee, Sowunmi David Oludotun, was arrested on 19th August at Ikate area of Lekki. He was said to have shown up to take delivery of 3.350 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United Kingdom.
Fireproof safe cracked in Rivers raid
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives raided the notorious Abuja Down/Up area of Port Harcourt where they recovered a fireproof iron safe.
The safe was cracked open with a welding machine on Tuesday, 25th August, and yielded 237 grams of Colorado; 316 grams of cocaine; and 10 grams of heroin.
In Ondo State, three suspects: Oyedele Daniel, 42; Taye Saliu, 36; and Kehinde Saliu, 36, were nabbed on Friday, 28th August, along the Ipele-Idoani road with a total of 728kg of skunk recovered from their truck marked KRE 120 XB.
Two other suspects: Uche Joseph, 35, and Godwin Umeh, 21, were arrested at Aponmu forest on Wednesday, 26th August, with 341kg of the same substance.
In Delta State, over 176,000 pills of assorted opioids including tramadol, molly and others were recovered from two interdiction operations carried out between Wednesday, 26th and Friday, 28th August.
WADA sensitization continues
NDLEA Commands across the country also sustained War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
These included lectures at Markaz Littahfizul Quran Wal Islamiyyat, Dadin Kowa, Gombe; Zangina Islamiyyah Alasawa Kurna, Ungogo LGA, Kano; and at a youth adolescent lifestyle programme organized by NNPCL in Benin City, Edo State.
The Ondo and Taraba State Commands also paid WADA advocacy visits to their governors, Dr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa and Dr. Agbu Kefas, respectively.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Ondo and Delta Commands, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their colleagues nationwide to sustain the balanced approach to drug control efforts.