The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of Tramadol concealed in two trailers travelling from Lagos to Kano, dealing another major blow to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
The intelligence-led operation led to the arrest of two 22-year-old truck drivers, Jabir Kabiru and Muhammed Nuhu, after the trailers were intercepted on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on July 2 and July 4.
NDLEA said 853,000 Tramadol pills were recovered from the first truck, while 777,000 pills were found hidden in the second vehicle.
According to the agency, investigations revealed that the two trucks, alongside another intercepted on June 21 with 558,900 Tramadol pills, belonged to the same international drug trafficking syndicate.
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, NDLEA operatives also intercepted 4.7 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, concealed in cartons imported from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights.
The operation resulted in the arrest of cargo agents Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, as well as Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, who arrived to collect the consignments.
Further investigation led to the arrest of the alleged owner of the shipment, 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, who reportedly admitted she was introduced to the illicit trade by a Canada-based associate.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested an 80-year-old man, Chika Ugwoji, in Ahoada after recovering 800 grammes of skunk from him.
In Edo State, a married couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested during a raid on their alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City, where officers recovered 22 bags of cannabis weighing 219.5 kilogrammes and 192.67 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud.
Similarly, a Chadian national, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, were arrested in Lagos after investigators linked them to a consignment of 50,000 Tramadol pills intercepted earlier in Kogi State.
The agency also sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes in schools across Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for the successful operations, urging them to remain vigilant as the agency intensifies efforts to curb drug trafficking across the country.
