Crooked attempts by drug syndicates to export illicit substances including various quantities of methamphetamine and opioids concealed in hems of new jeans trousers, dolls, buttons, local soap and tins of milo beverage to Europe, United Arab Emirate and Asia have been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at some courier firms in Lagos.
This is according to a statement by the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi.
Some of the consignments intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, at courier houses in Lagos include: tramadol 225mg concealed in hems of new jeans trousers heading to Cyprus; shipment of cannabis sativa hidden in heads of dolls going to Dubai, UAE; sachets of tramadol 225mg buried in tins of milo beverage going to UAE and another set of same drug hidden in local soap also going to UAE, as well as a consignment of methamphetamine concealed in buttons heading to Hong Kong.
A shipment of another illicit substance coming from Florida, USA was equally intercepted at a courier firm while the recipient, Daniel Ogi was tracked by NDLEA officers and arrested at 5 Akeem Shittu street, Ajao Estate Lagos on Friday 24th November 2023.
Operatives in Lagos on Friday 1st December also arrested a drug kingpin, Okechukwu Ogala, 56, who specialises in exploiting and recruiting young citizens to export meth to Asian countries. He was arrested at Blue Moon Hotel in Okota area of Lagos with 60 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.009 kilograms.
In another operation in Lagos, operatives on Friday 1st December recovered 393kgs of cannabis in a shop at Akala, Mushin while a suspect, Justin Enuonye, who deals in Canadian Loud was arrested by the police at Victoria Island and transferred to Lagos Command of NDLEA on Friday 1st December with 154 parcels weighing 92kgs. A team of NDLEA operatives also intercepted a vehicle at Oyingbo area of Lagos and recovered 108kgs of cannabis from it, while 675 kilograms of the same substance were recovered from the store of a wanted dealer, Wahab Olota at Adedoja area of Mushin, Lagos.
In Edo, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 29th November stormed the Ujiogba forest, Esan West LGA where they recovered 5,988 kilograms of cannabis already processed and ready for distribution while a 22-year-old, Mson Bunde, (a.k.a Tete Peter Joseph) found in a hut on the cannabis farm was arrested.
No less than 120,000 capsules of tramadol concealed in new sound systems packed in a Jos, Plateau state-bound bus were seized by NDLEA officers acting on intelligence along Onitsha-Awka road, Anambra state on Monday 27th Nov. While 123 blocks of cannabis weighing 73kgs were recovered from a suspect, Abdullahi Muhammad Bello along Gombe-Bauchi road, Gombe state on Wednesday 29th Nov, operatives in Abuja seized 168 blocks of same psychoactive substance with a total weight of 101kgs from the store of a fleeing drug dealer in Kabusa area of the FCT.
No fewer than 8,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered by NDLEA operatives on Friday 1st December when they intercepted a vehicle transporting the opioid along Abuja- Kaduna road, with the driver, Shamsu Isiyaku and his conductor, Muhammad Maina arrested. Same day, operatives also arrested Ernest Esechie, 30, with 44.4 kilograms of compressed cannabis sativa along Gwantu- Sanga road, Kaduna.
In Kogi, NDLEA officers arrested Ahmad Umar, 18, with 46.4kgs cannabis at a check point in Kabba, while Jamilu Zakari, 32, was nabbed at Kofar Idi, Kandahar, Bauchi town, Bauchi state with 125 blocks of same substance that weighed 146kgs. At least, 542.3kgs of cannabis were recovered from a suspect, Festus Egeogoli, 32, when his base at Jakpa road, Warri, Delta state was raided by NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 29th Nov, while 125.9kgs of same substance were also seized from a store in the same area.
With the same vigour, the various commands of the Agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, advocacy campaign in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitisation lecture for students of Phrankstars School, Awka, Anambra; students of Taskar Alkairi Primary and Secondary Schools, Goburawa, Dala LGA, as well as Natsugune Primary and Secondary Schools, Ungogo LGA, Kano; students of Kevqueen College, Itanla, Ondo West LGA, Ondo; students of Unibek Group of Schools, Port Harcourt, Rivers; students of The Apostolic High School, Ilesa, Osun, and students of Usman Jidda Shuwa Memorial Secondary School, Gamboru, Borno state.
While commending the officers and men of the Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Gombe, FCT, Kaduna, Kogi, Bauchi and Delta Commands of the Agency as well as DOGI for their outstanding feats in the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) equally applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures thus creating parity between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.