National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking, intercepting large consignments of illicit drugs, arresting multiple suspects and recovering firearms and ammunition in coordinated operations across several states.
The agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed the operations in a statement issued on Sunday..
According to him, NDLEA officers at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos intercepted 354,000 tablets of Tapentadol weighing 307.2 kilograms hidden in nine cartons shipped from Pakistan.
He said another operation at the airport led to the seizure of 70 parcels of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis, weighing 75.9 kilograms concealed inside six “Ghana-Must-Go” bags that arrived from the United Kingdom.
Babafemi said four suspects, including a clearing agent, an Uber driver and two other men, were arrested in connection with the UK shipment, while investigations linked the drugs to suspected traffickers based in the United Kingdom.
In Cross River State, NDLEA operatives raided Iyala Nkun village in Ikom Local Government Area and arrested a suspect with 181 bags of cannabis weighing 1,100 kilograms as well as cannabis seeds.
He said officers also intercepted over 700 kilograms of compressed cannabis in Edo State and arrested three suspects, while another raid in Benin City led to the recovery of Loud, Colorado and methamphetamine from a female suspect.
Babafemi added that NDLEA recovered more than 640 kilograms of cannabis during separate operations in Akure, Ondo State, leading to the arrest of two suspects.
He said operatives working with soldiers in Taraba State arrested two men with 166,200 tablets of Tramadol, while another operation in Kano uncovered thousands of capsules and tablets of Tramadol, Diazepam and Exol-5.
In Kaduna State, officers intercepted more than one tonne of cannabis on the Zaria-Kaduna highway, while another suspect was arrested in Lagos with cannabis and cannabis seeds.
The NDLEA spokesman also disclosed that operatives recovered two pump-action rifles, a locally made gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition during a raid on a suspect’s residence in Plateau State, where methamphetamine was also seized.
Beyond enforcement, Babafemi said the agency continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign by educating students, workers and community members in Oyo, Ebonyi, Niger, Kano, Lagos and Ogun states on the dangers of drug abuse.
He said NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers involved in the operations and urged them to sustain intelligence-driven efforts against drug trafficking and abuse across the country.
The latest seizures highlight NDLEA’s growing campaign against drug trafficking networks as authorities continue to target local dealers and international syndicates attempting to move illicit substances through Nigeria’s borders and airports.
