The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted more than 1.3 million pills and capsules of tramadol and other opioids, along with about 6,000 kilograms of cannabis, in a string of operations across several states and the Federal Capital Territory. 

The agency said the haul carries a combined street value of over N3.4 billion.

Among the most striking arrests was that of 49 year old Innocent Ekpe, who allegedly posed as a senior police officer to get past checkpoints while moving drugs across state lines. He was picked up on September 16 along the Benin Onitsha Expressway in Asaba, Delta State, with 292.48 kilograms of skunk hidden in his silver Toyota Sienna bus. The agency said preliminary investigation showed he presented himself as a Deputy Superintendent of Police using a forged identity card. A 39 year old alleged accomplice, Nduka Joseph, was also arrested.

The biggest single seizure was made at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos, where operatives placed a 40 foot container from Montreal, Canada, under surveillance after it arrived on September 12. A joint examination with the Nigeria Customs Service on September 16 uncovered 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, weighing 603.75 kilograms and valued at N1.811 billion. The consignment was concealed in 31 black jumbo bags loaded into two Toyota Sienna vehicles inside the container.

In Edo State, operatives raided a location along Agbor Road in Benin City and arrested 45 year old Matthew Ossai, an auto repair workshop owner who allegedly used the business as a front to store illicit drugs.

They recovered 48 kilograms of Canadian Loud and 152 grammes of methamphetamine. In Niger State, two suspects were arrested on the Abaji Abuja Highway with more than 1.1 million tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets packed in eight sacks, allegedly on their way from Onitsha to Mararaba.

Three young men aged 18 to 20 were also arrested on the Abuja Kaduna Expressway with two locally fabricated AK 47 rifles, a pistol and ammunition.

Other arrests included a suspect in Aguda, Lagos, with 48,900 pills of tramadol 225mg, another caught with 998.38 kilograms of nitrous oxide gas in Apongbo, and two suspects in Gombe State with 154,480 capsules of tramadol. In Ondo State, four suspects were arrested during a raid on a two hectare cannabis farm in Ita Ogbolu Forest, where 5,000 kilograms of skunk was destroyed.

The agency’s chairman, Brigadier General Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), commended the officers involved for what he called professionalism and intelligence driven operations, and urged them to keep up the pressure. The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse campaign in schools across the country during the week.

Photo Credit: NDLEA