NDLEA Arrest Businessman, Recovers Tramadol Pills Hidden in Mannequins
NDLEA Arrest Businessman, Recovers Tramadol Pills Hidden in Mannequins
National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) operatives in Akwa Ibom State have arrested a 37-year-old businessman, Ani Onyebuchi Romans, during a routine patrol along the Oron-Ibaka Road.
Romans was found with several full-body mannequins, which he claimed were for his clothing business in Cameroon.
However, upon a closer search, officers discovered that the mannequins were stuffed with 5.3kg of Tramadol pills.
The suspect, who resides in Cameroon, admitted to being on his way back to his base following the Christmas and New Year holidays. He confessed that he traveled to Onitsha, Anambra State, specifically to purchase the illegal opioids. His plan was to traffic the drugs across the border into Cameroon to sell them, using the mannequins as a creative cover to bypass security checkpoints.
This operation was announced alongside several other major breakthroughs by the NDLEA, including the re-arrest of an 80-year-old grandfather in Akwa Ibom who had returned to the drug trade after a previous conviction. NDLEA Chairman Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd) praised the vigilance of the officers, noting that these arrests demonstrate the agency’s resolve to stay ahead of traffickers who use increasingly sophisticated methods to hide illicit substances.
