Special units from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have successfully intercepted significant shipments of Cocaine and Colorado, a potent cannabis strain, concealed within household items and vehicles imported from Durban, South Africa, and Canada at the Tincan Seaport in Lagos.
The operation, based on coordinated intelligence and months of tracking, resulted in the seizure of illicit drugs, arms, ammunition, and military effects during a joint examination of three containers between January 18th and 19th, 2024.
The items recovered included 1,274 parcels of Cocaine and Colorado weighing 884.09 kilograms, pistols, various rounds of ammunition, and military effects. One suspect, Akara Chibugo, linked to a container with 32.5kg of Colorado, has been apprehended.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, two vigilant freight agents and a traveler avoided involvement in drug trafficking operations.
They thwarted attempts to send a consignment of 1kg cannabis to Turkey concealed in tins of Milo beverage by submitting the shipment to NDLEA checks.
Similarly, Okosun Paul Punitt, the consignee of tramadol concealed in dietary supplements, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos airport on January 19th. Preliminary findings revealed 50 pills of tramadol 225mg hidden in the bottle.
In Kano, NDLEA seized 5,653,000 pills of tramadol 250mg and exol-5 from three suspects, including Nura Abdullahi, Tahir Muhammad Mukhtar, and Yusuf Umar.
Abdullahi and Mukhtar were apprehended with 5,404,000 pills of tramadol on January 14th, while Umar was caught with 249,000 tablets of exol-5 on January 13th.
In Lagos, Ali Abubakar and Murtala Sani were arrested on January 16th with 110kg of cannabis sativa in Ojodu Berger, while 69kg of the same substance was recovered from the hideout of a fleeing suspect in Akerele, Surulere, on the same day.
NDLEA officers seized 2,800 bottles of codeine-based cough syrup during a raid in Aleita, FCT, Abuja, on January 20th.
The suspected owner, Jideofor Sochima, remains at large.
Further operations led to the seizure of 100,510 opioid pills from Ike Emmanuel in Dan-Anacha village, Taraba state, on January 18th.
In Abia state, NDLEA operatives arrested 60-year-old Joseph Isiguzoro, along with Emmanuel Eugene and Malachi Ndu, with 34,200 opioid pills.
Isiguzoro was also found with a monetary exhibit totaling N2,885,045.
