.Detains 2 businessmen, Canadian nurse for drug trafficking
CHIGOZIE AMADI
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 162,351 bottles of codeine based syrup from two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.
This is contained in a statement by its Spokesman, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday in Abuja.
Babafemi said operatives of the agency made the arrest during a joint examination of two containers with men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies on Oct. 15.
He said that 7,200,000 pills of Royal 225mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth over N3.6bn in street value were recovered.
The spokesman also said the they were seized from a watch-listed container from India at Port Harcourt, Port Complex, Onne, Rivers on Tuesday October 15.
“In the same container, 780 cartons of chlorphenamine containing 15,600,000 million pills of the opioid, were also recovered.
“From two other watch-listed containers equally searched at the port in Onne, a total of 337,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N2.3 billion were recovered from them on Tuesday Oct. 15 and Thursday October 17.
“This brings the total value of the seized Tapentadol, Carisoprodol and Codeine consignments at the two seaports to over N7 billion, “he said.
Meanwhile, a 33-year-old suspect (name witheld) has been arrested along Bauchi-Jos road with 76,600 pills of tramadol concealed in false compartments of his Toyota Sienna vehicle marked Enugu JRV 341 ZY.
Babafemi said that NDLEA operatives in Ondo state on Tuesday Oct. 15, also arrested three suspects (names witheld) at Afo village where 672kg marijuana was seized from them.
“A raid at Illushi forest in Esan South East LGA, Edo state led to the destruction of 10,590.36kg cannabis spread on 4.236144 hectares of farmland,” adding two suspects (names withheld) aged 65 and 35 had been apprehended during the raid.
Also, in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday Oct. 15 arrested a suspect (names withheld), with 3kg methamphetamine and 1.90kg cannabis along Lagos – Ibadan expressway.
Babafemi said that 241kg of same substance was also recovered at Gbaji, Badagry area of the state.
“A suspected meth cook (name withheld), was nabbed same Tuesday at Abule Osun with 265grams of methamphetamine.
“Recovered from him were different quantities of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and others,” he said.
Meanwhile, The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has detained for prosecution, two businessmen, and Canada-based nurse for illicit drug trafficking at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos.
This is contained in a statement by the Agency’ Director, Media and Advocacy, Mr Femi Babafemi on Sunday in Abuja.
Babafemi said that the NDLEA operatives swooped on, and detained them for attempting to import and export cocaine pellets and parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis through the airport.
He explained that one of the suspects. who frequented Thailand from where he claimed to be importing fish into Nigeria, was detained on Oct. 15, when attempting to board an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Thailand via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
“When he was taken for body scan, the result showed he ingested illicit drug which proved to be cocaine.
“As a result, he was placed under excretion observation during which he expelled five big egg size wraps of cocaine weighing 400grams.
“In his statement, the 51-year-old suspect confessed that he was to be paid upon successful delivery of the drug consignment in Thailand.
“He said he needed the money to boost his fish importation business,”Babafemi said.
Similarly, Babafemi said that NDLEA operatives on Oct.17, at the Lagos airport, intercepted a 26-year-old businessman who returned from Brazil via Addis Ababa, during the inward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airlines flight.
“His body scan revealed ingestion of illicit drug. When he was put under observation, he excreted a pellet of cocaine weighing 22 grams.
“He,however, confessed that he ingested 30 wraps of the illicit drug in Brazil but excreted 29 pellets in Addis Ababa, where he handed them over to another person.
“The suspect revealed that he was to be paid N2.5 million for trafficking the drug, “Babafemi added.
Meanwhile, NDLEA officers. also on Oct.4, detained a Nigerian- Canadian nurse, at the Lagos airport during the inward clearance of Air France passengers from Toronto, Canada via Paris.
Babafemi said that during a search of the suspect’s luggage, a total of 70 parcels of Canadian Loud, weighing 35.70kg were recovered from her.
“During her interview, she claimed she was in Nigeria to meet her boyfriend, who instructed her to come with the large consignment of the highly sought-after synthetic cannabis,”he said
