Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a Milan-bound businessman, Philip Tunde, 38, with 4.80kg of cocaine concealed in shoe soles and the railings of travelling bags at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
Disclosing this on Sunday, the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said Tunde was arrested on September 27 at the airport’s Terminal 2 while preparing to board a Royal Air Maroc flight to Milan, Italy. A search uncovered 16 parcels of cocaine hidden in eight pairs of shoes and 195 wraps concealed in four traveling bags.
The suspect reportedly told investigators he paid N16 million for the cocaine in the shoes, while the consignment in the bags was intended for a partner in Italy.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives at the Apapa, Tincan Island and Onne ports intercepted consignments of Loud cannabis and codeine-based syrup worth over N5 billion.
At Apapa, 124kg of Thai Loud worth N372 million was recovered from two refrigerators and two cartons in a container from Bangkok. At Onne, 22kg of Loud and 109,600 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at N833.2 million were seized from two containers.
At Tincan Island, operatives recovered 1,297.5kg of Canadian Loud, concealed in two vehicles and other items, with a street value of over N3.8 billion.
Across the country, NDLEA operatives also destroyed 20,234kg of skunk on 8.09 hectares of cannabis farm in Osun, seized 385kg of skunk in Plateau and recovered 209,000 tramadol tablets in Lagos.
Several suspects were arrested in connection with other seizures, including a fugitive who was apprehended six years after jumping bail while standing trial over 198kg of skunk.
The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, worship centres and communities, even as NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers involved and urged them to sustain intelligence-driven operations alongside the agency’s prevention and sensitisation efforts.
