NDLEA Intercepts Opioids Worth N16bn, Arrests Octogenarian, Community Leader’s Family
By Anne Osemekeh, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), have intercepted a total of twenty-five million pills of tapentadol, and three hundred and fifty thousand bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Tincan port complex in Lagos.
The anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, disclosed that the seizures were made on Tuesday, September 17th, and Friday, September 20th, 2024, from three containers that had been on the watchlist of the agency following processed intelligence.
Following receipt of the intelligence, the NDLEA requested a 100% joint examination of the shipments with men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies.
According to Babafemi, the 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of N13,725,000,000, while the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of N2,450,000,000. bringing the total value of the seizures to N16,175,000,000. Tapentadol is known to be three times stronger than tramadol.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Lagos State Strategic Command of the Agency on Friday, September 20, 2024, arrested an 80-year-old grandfather, Pa Aremu Shojobi, with 14 kilogrammes of cannabis at his home in the Iyana Ipaja area of the state. In his statement, the Octogenarian claimed he has been in the business of selling illicit drugs for 25 years. He further claimed he gets his supplies from Benin Republic and sells to his customers from his residence between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. every day.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Wednesday, 18th September, raided the two homes of a community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry West LCDA, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, where a total of 226kg of cannabis was recovered from his two wives and son. Though Alhaji Talba is currently at large, a search of his house in Ashipa area of Seme Badagry led to the recovery of 93 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 57.6kg from his first wife, Asma’u Bashiru, 35, and son, Sadat Bashiru, 22, while another search of his house at Aketegbo area of Seme Badagry led to the seizure of 302 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 168.6kg from his second wife, Hauwa Bashir, 42.
At the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, September 15, 2024, arrested a 38 year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony, while attempting to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha with 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach. After three days of excretion observation, Okafor excreted the 76 pellets of the ingested cocaine, weighing 1.267kg.
In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday 17th September, recovered 700,000 pills of exol-5 coming from Lagos for distribution in Kano and Kaduna, while a suspect, Udemefuna Chibuike, 23, was arrested by operatives on Friday 20th September along Mokwa-Jebba road, Niger state, in possession of 49,000 tablets of tramadol, 20,000 tablets of diazepam, 100 ampoules of tramadol injection, and 50 bottles of cough syrup with codeine.
A total of 451 blocks of cannabis weighing 213kg were intercepted along Azikiwe Road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, by NDLEA officers who apprehended a suspect, Ogochukwu Paul, 33, conveying the consignment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.
Furthermore, operatives in Plateau State on Friday, September 20, 2024, arrested a wanted suspect, Jonathan Ali Abuttur, 46, at Agingi-Rukuba Road, Bassa LGA, in possession of 808kg of cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertiliser. operatives in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28kg of the same psychoactive substance.
While commending the officers and men of the various commands where the seizures and arrests were made, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, are well appreciated.
