Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a large shipment of tramadol powder worth over N6.98 billion at the APM Terminals in Apapa, Lagos.
The agency said the seizure followed a joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies on October 2nd, where the consignment from India, declared as maize starch, was discovered. A confirmatory test at the NDLEA forensic laboratory showed it to be tramadol hydrochloride powder.
When separated from its concealment on Wednesday, October 14th, the cargo was found to be 349 bags with a gross weight of 8,725kg, valued at over N6.98 billion.
In a separate operation at Tincan Port in Lagos on Monday, October 12th, NDLEA officers discovered 55kg of Canadian Loud worth N165 million, packed in brown cartons and hidden inside a Toyota Sienna vehicle conveyed in a 40-foot container.
Elsewhere in Lagos, operatives raided Idumota market on October 14th and arrested Elizabeth Chidera Kalu, recovering 10,600 ampoules of diazepam injection and 6,500 tablets of Molly from her store. On October 15th, two men, Idowu Daudu and Ahmed Oniyinde, were arrested in Mushin with 59.95kg and 61.23kg of skunk respectively, while a truck coming from Trade Fair market was intercepted along Iyana Oba with 18,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in cartons labelled as Rambo insecticide.
The agency also recorded major seizures in Edo, Ondo, Bauchi and Kano States. In Owan East LGA of Edo, six suspects were arrested, including 85-year-old Grace Ehimeka with 179kg of skunk, while in Ondo, a cannabis farm in Okemoro Isinbode forest was raided with 7,500kg of skunk destroyed on three hectares and five suspects arrested. In Bauchi, 894,800 pills of tramadol and Exol-5 were recovered from Shamsu Garba, and in Kano, 30,100 tablets of tramadol and 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 were seized.
In Kaduna and the FCT, NDLEA operatives arrested three suspects with 496.5kg of cannabis at Kayimi village, one suspect with 49,500 tablets of tramadol at Ali Akilu Road, and another, Odo Jonas Ejike, with 29,500 capsules of tramadol at Utako, Abuja.
Meanwhile, the agency said its Commands across the country have sustained War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization lectures in schools, worship centres and workplaces in Oyo, Gombe, Lagos, Kogi, Cross River, Rivers, Edo and Kano States. Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers of Apapa, Tincan, Lagos, Edo, Bauchi, Ondo, Kano and FCT Commands for their professionalism and urged them to sustain the onslaught against drug trafficking networks.
