The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has seized 1.63 million pills of tramadol 250mg from two trailers and arrested members of a transnational drug syndicate, even as operatives nabbed an 80-year-old grandpa, a businesswoman, a Chadian national and others in coordinated operations across Lagos, Edo, Kogi and Rivers states.
The seizures, announced on Sunday by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi, are linked to a drug trafficking network operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
—Two trailers, 1.63m pills headed for Kano—
The first trailer was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. Operatives tracked the vehicle and recovered 853,000 tramadol 250mg pills hidden beneath the cargo floor in a specially fabricated compartment. The driver, 22-year-old Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.
Two days later, on July 4, a second trailer on the same route was tracked and stopped. A further 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg were found in a similar concealed compartment. Its driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu, was also arrested.
According to NDLEA, investigations showed the two trucks, along with another consignment of 558,900 pills intercepted on June 21, all belonged to the same syndicate smuggling drugs into Nigeria through the Togo-Benin-Nigeria route. All three consignments were headed for Kano.
—Cannabis from Canada, businesswoman arrested—
At the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, operatives intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 4.7kg in total.
The packages arrived on June 24 and July 3 aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights, concealed in cartons boldly marked “Odugwu.”
Two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were first arrested. Another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was picked up when he allegedly came to collect the parcels from a logistics company.
The alleged owner, 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Mokeme, was arrested on July 7 in Surulere, Lagos, with the help of the Area C Police Command. Mokeme, who said she runs a printing business, told investigators a friend based in Canada, Agbons Collins, introduced her to the trade.
—Arrests in Rivers, Edo, Kogi and Lagos—
In Rivers State, NDLEA arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji at Ahoada on July 14. He was found with 800 grammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis.
In Edo State, a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested on July 13 during a raid on their alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City. The raid yielded 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67kg.
In Kogi, operatives seized 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg on July 12. The trail led to Lagos, where a 38-year-old Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, 44-year-old Abdulkarim Jidda, were arrested in Apapa.
–,Marwa charges officers on intelligence-driven operations—
Beyond enforcement, NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse advocacy continued in schools across several states.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd.), said the arrests and seizures showed the impact of sustained intelligence-led operations.
He urged personnel to remain vigilant and intensify efforts to dismantle trafficking networks across the country.
