Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted consignments of illicit drugs
going to the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Cyprus at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos; Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja and some courier companies.
Among the drugs intercepted were cocaine, methamphetamine and its precursor chemical, ephedrine.
A press statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi, also disclosed that at least three traders at the Trade Fair Complex in Ojo area of Lagos State: Nwudele Basil; Chiedu Ezenwani and Donatus Nwojiji, have been arrested in connection with attempts to export 52.1 kilogrammes of ephedrine, a precursor chemical and active ingredient for the production of methamphetamine, concealed in bunches of fishing threads and packed among other items in jumbo sacks that were intercepted mat the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport on Sunday, 31st January and Monday, 1st February.
He said it took the painstaking efforts of NDLEA officers and deployment of sniffer dogs to be able to discover the complex mode of concealment of the illicit substance.
Babafemi also said at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, that vigilant operatives of the agency last Monday intercepted a 29-year-old Apeh Kelvin while attempting to board Turkish airline flight TK0624 going through Istanbul to Cyprus, with 4.5 kilogrammes of methamphetamine concealed in false bottoms of his travelling bag, with the suspect claiming he ran a boutique business in Enugu before he decided to travel to Cyprus for a degree in Business Administration.
The NDLEA Spokesperson also said at three different courier firms in Lagos, operatives intercepted two cocaine consignments weighing 400 grammes each, going to United Kingom and Saudi Arabia.
They were hidden in walls of cartons used for packaging.
Two other consignments containing 500 grammes and 100 grammes of methamphetamine were also blocked from being shipped to New Zealand after they were discovered concealed in food items.
No fewer than 2,684,900 pills of tramadol and other pharmaceutical opioids were seized by operatives during interdiction operations in some states in the past week.
In Adamawa, a total of 250,000 pills of tramadol and exol-5 as well as 1800ml of codeine neatly concealed in the reserve fuel tank of a trailer from Onitsha, Anambra state, were seized at Mubi and a dealer, Hussaini Ibrahim (a.k.a Bafu) arrested.
He also disclosed that a total of 279,000 pills of tramadol 200mg and 225mg were recovered from a suspect, Hammajan Suleman, on Okene-Abuja highway in Kogi, last Monday, 376 blocks of skunk weighing 229.36 kilogrammes and a Toyota Camry car used in conveying the consignment from Edo state enroute Kano by another suspect, Moses Alabi, were handed over to NDLEA by a patrol team of the Nigerian Army, in Lokoja last Tuesday.
In the same vein, two suspects: Christian Nnachor, 23 and Chinonso Obiora, 20, arrested with 1,843,900 tablets of Diazepam and 300,000 pills of Exol-5 by soldiers along Abuja-Kaduna express road were transferred to the Kaduna State Command of NDLEA last Monday while Christopher Maduka, 43, was arrested with 10,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection by NDLEA operatives last Saturday on Abuja-Kaduna highway.
In Kano, Ahmed Suraj was nabbed with 89 bottles of codeine syrup in Badawa area of the state, while Amadu Musa and three others were arrested in Kofar Mata with 53 blocks of cannabis weighing 41.9 kilogrammes.
In Niger state, a trans-border trafficker, Abdullahi Isah was arrested on Jebba-Mokwa highway with 188 blocks of skunk that weighed 107 kilogrammes, which he was attempting to take to Niger republic.
Babafemi also said 24 kilogrammes of Arizona variant of cannabis and 2,000 pills of opioids were recovered from Ibrahim Isiyaku on Nguru-Kano road in Yobe, with no fewer than four suspects: Usman Abubakar, a Chadian; Muhammad Ali; Ibrahim Yahaya and Babagana Abdullahi arrested in connection with the seizure of 61.45 kilogrammes of cannabis and 22.1 kilogrammes of exol-5 in Jigawa with follow up operations in Kano.
The consignments were ordered by Usman with a view to taking them to Chad.
Meanwhile, in his reaction to the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers, men, and women of the MMIA, NAIA, DOGI, Adamawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kogi, Niger, and Yobe commands for their commitment and vigilance.
He, however, urged them and their compatriots across the country to continue with the current working synergy with other security forces towards ridding Nigeria of the menace of illicit drugs.
Also, The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested no fewer than 64 suspects, including seven drug dealers after raid of some hotels in Sokoto.
Mr Muhammad Iro, the NDLEA Commandant, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday that more than 517 kilogrammes of illicit drugs were seized from the suspects.
According to Iro, the raid is part of efforts to tackle criminal elements before the general election.
“Our operatives in the first raid seized 473 Kilogrammes of Cannabis sativa, 4.3 Kilogrammes Cordine, 10 grams of Rafinole and seven grams of methamphetamine.
“We arrested no fewer than 64 person, in which during investigation, identified seven to be among suspected drug dealers in the state.
“A total of 57 others were identified as drug users who will be engaged into rehabilitation programme of the NDLEA.
“However, the seven suspected drug dealers will soon be charged to court,” he added.
The commandant added that the operation which was supported by other security agencies, will continue.
“It is part of the NDLEA war against drug abuse and to sanitise the society of criminal elements head of the forthcoming general election in the state.
“We are optimistic that without the consumption of hard drugs, criminal activities and other social vices will be minimal, if not totally addressed.
“As such, we will continue to wage war on drug merchants and users as part of ensuring the forthcoming election is devoid of any crime in relation to drug abuse,” he said.
Iro said the command would sensitise all hotel operators in the state on the need to evaluate their customers and details of their activities in their facilities.
He added that the NDLEA will not hesitate to seal any hotel found to be harbouring drug dealers. (NAN)
