The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency foiled drug cartels’ desperate attempts to smuggle millions of illicit drug tablets across the country for the festive season, seizing 8,381,600 Tramadol capsules and tablets, as well as 56,782 bottles of Codeine, among other things, in major raids in Lagos State.
The breakthrough came after the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa, issued a directive for continuous surveillance on specific targets in the Satellite town and Alaba Rago regions of Lagos ahead of Christmas (retd.).
The Satellite town target was eventually raided on Thursday, December 23 when a drug kingpin, Ezekiel Ibe, was arrested and over five tons of high milligrams Tramadol (225mg and 100mg) were recovered from his warehouse, according to a statement released on Sunday by the agency’s Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi.
The seized substance was broken down into 7,991,600 Tramadol tablets and 390,000 Tramadol capsules, totaling 5,468.894 kilos.
Surajo Mohammed was detained with 941.14kg cannabis in another operation on Monday, December 20, following tasking surveillance in a notorious neighbourhood in Lagos’ Alaba Rago, Alaba district, while 56,782 bottles of codeine were recovered from the store of another drug kingpin still at large.
Amaka Ogonachukwu, 22, was detained by NDLEA operatives for attempting to smuggle cocaine wraps wrapped in cooked white rice for her boyfriend, Monday Imagbebenikaro, 40, who is now in the custody of the Edo State command of the NDLEA.
He was previously detained for selling in crack cocaine, Cannabis Sativa, and Danabel along Airport Road in Benin City, Oredo LGA (Anabolic steroids).
Also, Ovire Cyril, a Turkish Airlines outbound passenger to Italy, was detained with 114 wraps of heroin weighing 1.80kg during a routine search at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport’s Gate “C’ Departure Hall in Ikeja, Lagos.
The pills were hidden in the pockets of four pairs of jean pants that were placed in a black suitcase. The suspect claimed he was given €5,000.00 if he successfully delivered the item in Italy, claiming he was pushed into the crime by difficulty after losing his job.
On the same day, a male passenger, Osakue Evbuomwan, was detained with 1.55kg of Tramadol concealed in a ‘Ghana must go’ bag during the outgoing clearing of Ethiopian Airlines passengers’ bags at the same gate.
Marwa praised the agency’s Lagos, Edo, and MMIA commands for not letting their guard down during the festive season, assuring them and their counterparts in other commands that his leadership would always reward exemplary performance while charging them to stay focused and aspire to surpass previous feats.
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