NDLEA intercepts 31 million tramadol, opioids worth N17.9 bn
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, have intercepted a total of 31, 124, 600 Tramadol pills and bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N17.93 billion in street value.
The illicit drugs were intercepted at the Port Harcourt Port Complex in Onne, Rivers state and Tincan seaport, Lagos.
The seizures were made following intelligence processed by the Agency on the movement of the shipments from their port of origin in India.
On arrival in Nigeria, the NDLEA demanded for a 100 percent joint examination of the containers with the Nigerian Customs Service and other sister security agencies.
A breakdown of the seizures show that 350,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers at Tincan port in Lagos on Thursday 29th and Friday 30th August 2024. Each of the two containers had 175,000 bottles of the opioid.
At the Port Harcourt Port Complex, Onne, NDLEA operatives equally intercepted a total of 447 cartons of tramadol 225mg containing 29, 840,000 pills of the opioid as well as 380,000 bottles of codeine syrup from three containers on Thursday 29th August.
The tramadol shipments came under different brand names such as Royal Tapetadol, Carisoprodol 225mg and Royal Tramadol Hydrochloride 225mg.
Also on August 30, another set of three containers watch-listed by NDLEA were subjected to joint examination.
“At the end of the exercise, a total of 3,030 cartons of codeine syrup containing 554,600 bottles of the opioid were recovered from them.
5″This brings the total bottles of codeine seized at Onne, Rivers and Tincan in Lagos to 1,284,600 bottles worth N8,992,200,000.00 in street value while the combined seizure of tramadol stood is 29, 840,000 pills valued at N8,940,000,000.00,” NDLEA Spokesman, Femi Babafemi said in a statement.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt International Airport, Rivers state on Tuesday 27th August arrested a suspect, Eze Emekan Don, while attempting to board a Cronos airline flight to Malabo, Equatorial Guinea with 1,490 pills of tramadol concealed and packaged as cosmetics of different brands inside his luggage.
“His attempt to compromise the officers to evade arrest was rebuffed,” he added.
Also, 1,122 kilograms of cannabis were seized from a suspect, Mustapha Ibrahim when he was arrested on Monday 26th August along Orchid road, Ajah, Lagos, while 816kg of the same psychoactive substance belonging to a suspect at large was recovered from the same location same day.
In Niger state, NDLEA operatives on Monday 26th August arrested a suspect Friday Gabriel along Minna-Suleja road while conveying 1,900 capsules of tramadol, 300 bottles of codeine syrup and 600 packets of exol-5 tablets.
Similarly, operatives in Bauchi state on Saturday 31st August arrested two suspects: Garba Muhammed, 35; and Usman Yakubu Shehu, 31, yalong Bauchi-Gombe road while transporting 308 blocks of cannabis weighing 246.4kg, concealed in false compartment of a J5 bus marked Edo state URM 38 ZY.
The Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended all the officers and men of PHPC, Tincan and the Special Operations Unit of the Agency that had been working on targeted containers, for their vigilance and professionalism.
He equally praised the support received from other stakeholders at the ports that enabled the seamless and successful operations in the course of targeting the shipments.
Marwa also applauded operatives in Lagos, Niger, Bauchi and Port Harcourt as well as other Commands across the country for their diligence and balance in their drug demand and supply reduction efforts.
