Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted opioids worth N9,346,400,000 in street value at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, Rivers state.
NDLEA’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed on Sunday that the substances were intercepted after about seven watch-listed containers were examined by a joint team of NDLEA and Nigeria Customs Service officers and those of other security agencies, between Wednesday 28th and Friday 30th May.
A breakdown of the seized substances include 825,200 bottles of codeine based syrup and trodol worth Five Billion, Seven Hundred and Seventy Six Million Four Hundred Thousand Naira only (N5,776,400,000) in street value and a total of Five Million One Hundred Thousand (5,100,000) pills of opioids especially tapentadol 225mg worth Three Billion Five Hundred and Seventy Million Naira Only (N3,570,000,000).
In a related development, NDLEA officials uncovered and dismantled a syndicate that sponsors hajj pilgrims who also serve as couriers to move cocaine to Saudi Arabia during pilgrimage. This followed the arrest of leaders of the cartel in Kano.
The kingpins identified as Abubakar Muhammad, Abdulhakeem Muhammed Tijjani, and Muhammad Aji Shugaba, were arrested on Tuesday 27th and Wednesday 28th May 2025 in Kano. These arrests came after two pilgrims, Ibrahim Umar Mustapha and Muhammad Siraj Shifado, were arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano on Monday 26th May during the outward clearance of passengers on Ethiopian Airline flight ET 940 to Jedda, Saudi Arabia.
According to Babafemi, the interdiction of the intending pilgrims at the NDLEA final screening point at the Kano airport was based on credible intelligence. When they were taken for scanning, the result confirmed ingestion of illicit substances. They were subsequently placed on excretion observation during which they excreted 45 wraps of cocaine each, bringing the total for both to 90 pellets with a total weight of 1.04kg.
Furthermore, NDLEA operatives at the Kano airport on Wednesday 28th May intercepted a 60-year-old businessman Chinedu Leonard Okigbo during the outward clearance of Qatar Airways flight QR1432 to Iran after a body scan confirmed he ingested illicit substances. As a result, he was placed on excretion observation during which he excreted 65 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.41kg.
The War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands equally continued across the country in the past week. Some of them include: WADA sensitization lecture delivered to students and staff of Government Day Senior Secondary School, Kwasarawa, Katsina; Corpus Christi College, Achi, Enugu; Epignosis Standard College, Onitsha, Anambra; Government Girls Secondary School, Utai, Wudil LGA, Kano; and Government Girls Secondary School, Calabar, Cross River, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MAKIA, PHPC, Kano, Kwara, and Adamawa Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.
