Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), on Sunday, said the village head of Gidan Abba in Bodinga local government area of Sokoto State, Abubakar Ibrahim, has been arrested alongside eleven suspects during interdiction operations.
A statement by Femi Babafemi, spokesperson of the NDLEA, said 991,320 pills of pharmaceutical opioids and 1,251kg of cannabis and khat as well as 46.637 kg of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin were recovered during operations across seven states
The agency also intercepted 15 cartons containing 802,000 pills of Tramadol imported from Dubai, UAE and Karachi, Pakistan, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos on Wednesday, October 26.
According to Babafemi, 10 cartons of Tramadol 225mg came in from Dubai on Ethiopian Airlines flight, four cartons of 100mg and a carton of 225mg Tramadol came from Karachi, Pakistan on another Ethiopian Airlines flight.
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“On the same day, operatives at the SAHCO export shed intercepted cans of tomato paste going to the United Kingdom.
“A search of the consignment revealed that the tomato cans were used to conceal 36 pellets of cannabis with a gross weight of 21.30kg while a cargo agent, Sodehinde Akinwale has been arrested in connection with the seizure”
Two days after, Friday, October 28, operatives attached to the NAHCO import shed of the Lagos airport seized five cartons of dried khat leaves, weighing 107.70kgs that came in from Bangkok, Thailand through Dubai on an Emirates Airline flight.
A follow-up operation on the seizure of 11.90kgs Meth concealed in the heads of dried fish going to Dubai, UAE on August 5 led to the arrest of a 30-year-old bricklayer, Babatunde Mamowora on Thursday, October 27, in Sango Ota area of Ogun State in collaboration with men of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in the area.
“Also, a 27-year-old Chukwuemeka Miracle has also been arrested by the NDLEA operatives at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport, AIIA, Enugu on arrival from Nairobi, Kenya via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Wednesday, October 26.
A search of his three bags revealed 76 foreign bathing soaps made with cocaine in one of the bags while another has two plastic bottles containing cream-like liquid, which tested positive for cocaine. The cocaine bars weigh 10.650 kilograms while the liquid cocaine weighs 2.496kg, bringing the total weight to 13.146 kg,” Babafemi said.
The agency also seized 146,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg in a buy and bust operation in the Oshodi area of Lagos on Tuesday, October 25, while the village head of Gidan Abba village, in Bodinga local government area of Sokoto State, Abubakar Ibrahim, 38, was arrested in Bodinga town same day with 3kgs of cannabis sativa and 4,000 tablets of exol-5.
