Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting
OPERATIVES of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a Saudi Arabia-bound consignment of skunk concealed in a gallon of palm oil at Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, as a separate search at Apapa port in Lagos uncovered 8,725 kilogrammes of powdered tramadol worth over N6.98 billion in street value.
In a series of operations across the country, the agency also seized thousands of kilogrammes of cannabis and large quantities of opioids in Lagos, Edo, Ondo, Bauchi, Kano and Kaduna states, arresting dozens of suspects, including an 85-year-old grandmother.
At the Kano airport, NDLEA officers on Friday 16 October intercepted a female passenger, Fatimah Ahmad, with a gallon of palm oil containing parcels of cannabis weighing 511.75 grammes during the outward clearance of an Ethiopian Airlines flight to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, via Addis Ababa. Ms Ahmad told operatives the gallon was given to her by her cousin, Abubakar Yahaya, who was promptly arrested at the airport car park.
Following a joint examination with the Customs Service and other agencies at the APM terminals in Apapa, Lagos, NDLEA operatives on 2 October uncovered a large shipment of powdered tramadol from India, declared as maize starch. A confirmatory test at the NDLEA forensic laboratory showed the cargo to be tramadol hydrochloride powder. When it was separated from its concealment on Wednesday 14 October, it came to 349 bags with a gross weight of 8,725kg, worth over N6.98 billion.
In a separate operation at the Tincan port in Lagos on Monday 12 October, NDLEA officers, in the course of a joint examination of a container with Customs and others, discovered 55kg of Canadian Loud worth N165 million. The drugs were packed in brown cartons and hidden inside a Toyota Sienna vehicle conveyed in the 40-foot container.
Elsewhere in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday 14 October raided Idumota market, where they arrested Elizabeth Chidera Kalu and recovered 10,600 ampoules of diazepam injection and 6,500 tablets of Molly from her store. The following day, two 35-year-old men were arrested in the Mushin area of the state: Idowu Daudu, with 59.95kg of skunk, and Ahmed Oniyinde, with 61.23kg of the same substance.
In another interdiction operation in Lagos, operatives acting on credible intelligence on Thursday 15 October intercepted a truck coming from Trade Fair market with illicit drug consignments along Iyana Oba. Two suspects were arrested: Tajudeen Adeduntan, the loading manager, and his assistant, Azeez Sikiru. A search of the truck led to the recovery of 18,000 pills of tramadol 250mg, concealed in cartons labelled as Rambo insecticide.
In Edo, NDLEA operatives raided Warake, Ivhiaro and Ewe/Irue communities in Owan East LGA between 15 and 16 October, arresting six suspects. They include 85-year-old Grace Ehimeka, arrested with 179kg of skunk at Warake; Ayo Aigberadion, 53, with 220.8kg at Ewe/Irue; Ali Garba, 57, with 5.852kg; Habib Braimoh, 45, with 100 grammes; Musa Mubid, 35, with 2kg of cannabis, cannabis seeds, tramadol, Swinol and diazepam; and Hope Okoro, 35, with 237 grammes of loud.
Acting on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives on Saturday 17 October raided a cannabis farm in Okemoro Isinbode camp forest, Ondo State, and destroyed 7,500kg of skunk on three hectares. Five suspects were arrested: Asikpo Ekpeyoung, 43; Solomon Okpani, 22; Ubong Friday, 35; Joseph Friday, 22; and Ekenimi Seth, 35. Exhibits recovered included 92 bags of skunk weighing 1,267kg, 11kg of cannabis seeds and 3kg of fresh stems — a total of 1,281 kilogrammes. In the Owo area of the state, operatives on Friday 16 October trailed 53-year-old Okunebe Ndidi to his hideout in Ameyinti, where they recovered 25 bags of cannabis weighing 375kg.
Not fewer than 894,800 pills of tramadol capsules and Exol-5 tablets were recovered from Shamsu Garba, 35, at Ragwam village, Katagum LGA, Bauchi State, when NDLEA officers intercepted his Volkswagen Golf estate car on Wednesday 14 October. The same day, operatives on patrol along the Bauchi–Gombe road recovered 291 blocks of cannabis weighing 265kg from an abandoned car at Tudun Natsira village.
In Kano, two suspects, Ali Abdullahi, 38, and Ibrahim Adamu, 23, were arrested on Tuesday 13 October along the Zaria–Kano road with 30,100 tablets of tramadol 225mg seized, while a 54-year-old, Murtala Dayyabu, was arrested at Niger Street, Malan Kato, with 100,000 tablets of Exol-5 on Wednesday 14 October.
A raid by NDLEA operatives at Kayimi village, Kaduna State, led to the arrest of Mohammed Sani, 48, Zaharadeen Shafiu, 29, and Yakubu Abdullahi, 20, with 496.5kg of cannabis. In a separate raid at Food Palace, Ali Akilu Road, Kaduna, John Ayo David, 39, was arrested with 49,500 tablets of tramadol 225mg, while a 42-year-old suspect, Odo Jonas Ejike, was arrested with 29,500 capsules of tramadol in the Utako area of Abuja on Saturday 17 October.
With the same vigour, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, places of worship, workplaces and communities over the past week. These included WADA enlightenment lectures to students and staff of Nawar-Ur-Deen High School, Ogboro, Oyo State; Elf Junior Secondary School, Bojude, Gombe; Cherubim and Seraphim Primary School, Ikorodu, Lagos; Harmony Secondary School, Lokoja, Kogi; Government Secondary School, Ikot Ansa, Calabar, Cross River; Rivers State College of Health Science and Management Technology, Port Harcourt; Mesh International School, Benin City, Edo; and Abu Hanifa Academy, Kano Municipal, Kano State, among others.
Commending the officers and men of the Apapa, Tincan, MAKIA, Lagos, Edo, Bauchi, Ondo, Kano and FCT commands for their professionalism and intelligence-driven approach to the various successful operations, the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), urged them and their colleagues across the country to sustain the onslaught against drug trafficking networks while continuing with the agency’s current balanced approach to drug control efforts.
