Illicit drugs intercepted by NDLEA operatives
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its nationwide war against drug trafficking, intercepting illicit drugs worth more than N5 billion at the Apapa, Tincan Island and Onne seaports.
The agency also destroyed over 20,000 kilograms of cannabis on a large plantation in Osun State, recovered dangerous narcotics in several states and arrested a suspect who had been on the run for six years after jumping court bail.
The NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed this in a statement issued to newsmen on Sunday in Lagos.
According to him, the successful operations followed months of intelligence gathering and tracking of shipments from their countries of origin before they arrived in Nigeria.
Babafemi said at the Apapa Port in Lagos, NDLEA officers, working with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies, examined two containers from Bangkok, Thailand.
He said during the operation, officers discovered 161 parcels of Thai Loud, a strong strain of cannabis, weighing 124 kilograms and valued at N372 million, hidden inside refrigerators and cartons.
At the Onne Port in Rivers State, operatives uncovered 22 kilograms of Loud concealed inside a travelling bag and three imported vehicles.
The same operation also led to the seizure of 109,600 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup weighing 16,440 kilograms. NDLEA said the shipment was routed through Saudi Arabia after leaving India in an attempt to conceal its true origin. The seized codeine and cannabis have a combined street value of about N833.2 million.
Another major breakthrough came at the Tincan Island Port in Lagos, where officers intercepted 2,595 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 1,297.5 kilograms. The drugs, hidden inside vehicles, blue drums and jumbo bags, were estimated to be worth more than N3.8 billion.
In Osun State, NDLEA operatives destroyed 20,234 kilograms of skunk cultivated on more than 8 hectares of farmland in Ife South Local Government Area as part of efforts to dismantle illegal cannabis plantations.
In Plateau State, officers arrested Agbo Dennis, 41, after recovering 385 kilograms of skunk packed in 33 bags.
The agency also recorded fresh arrests and seizures in Lagos, Kogi and Edo states. In Lagos, officers recovered 209,000 tablets of tramadol from an unoccupied compound and later arrested 23-year-old Ekundayo Taiwo over methamphetamine and Colorado concealed in an energy drink bottle.
Along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State, NDLEA intercepted a commuter bus carrying one kilogram of methamphetamine hidden inside a waybill package. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of Michael Chukwuememka Uzoma in Abuja.
In Edo State, officers recovered 32.2 kilograms of cannabis sativa from the residence of Saturday Omimi and arrested another suspect, Osazuwa Iyabor Michael, with different quantities of Loud, Colorado, methamphetamine, tramadol, Swinol and Molly.
The agency also announced the arrest of Idris Mohammed Kurra, a 47-year-old fugitive who had been evading arrest since December 2020 after jumping bail while facing trial over the possession and trafficking of 198 kilograms of skunk before the Federal High Court in Jos.
Beyond enforcement operations, NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued across the country with sensitisation programmes in schools and communities in Enugu, Lagos, Kano, Ekiti and Kogi states to discourage drug abuse among young people.
Commending the officers involved in the operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), urged them to remain committed to intelligence-led operations.
Marwa said they should “sustain the onslaught against drug trafficking networks, while continuing with the current balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the Agency.”
The latest operations underscore NDLEA’s renewed determination to disrupt drug trafficking networks, protect communities from the dangers of illicit substances and strengthen Nigeria’s fight against organised drug crime.
