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NDLEA intercepts N4.3Billion worth of opioids at Onne, Tincan ports
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 50-year-old businessman, Osuoha Christian Iheanacho, at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport (AIIA), Enugu, for ingesting 90 wraps of cocaine.
Osuoha was intercepted by operatives of the agency on Wednesday, 20th November 2024, at the arrival hall of the Enugu airport during the inbound screening of passengers arriving from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight, following months of intelligence and surveillance on him.
He was subsequently placed on excretion observation, during which he egested 90 pellets of cocaine weighing 2.019 kilograms in seven excretions.
Investigations reveal that the suspect, who operates a phone and accessories business in Lagos and Gabon, Central Africa, travelled by road from Gabon to Douala, Cameroon, from where he took a flight to Addis Ababa. He swallowed the pellets of cocaine while in transit and then continued his journey to Enugu, with Lagos as his final destination.
He deliberately complicated his movement to distort traces of his travel history, unknown to him that he had been on the NDLEA watchlist for the past three months. In his statement, Osuoha said he desperately needed the money from the criminal drug trade to boost his declining phone and accessories business.
In another well-coordinated operation carried out by the Special Operations Unit of the agency on Thursday, 21st November, the head of a cocaine distribution cartel, 42-year-old Ndive Maxwell Obinna, was arrested along with five of his associates at Ago Palace Way in Okota, Isolo, Lagos.
A total of 2.412 kilograms of cocaine was recovered from them.
Other members of the drug trafficking organisation arrested alongside Obinna include:
Okeke Gloria Ifeoma – Syndicate’s stash keeper
Ikechebelu Emmanuel Chibuzor
Okorie Onyedikachi
Okonkwo Nnabugo Prince
Okafor Blessing Anita
In a related development, another drug syndicate operated by a Chinese man, 58-year-old Tianzhen Yen (alias Jackie), has been dismantled by NDLEA operatives following his arrest at his hotel in the Ikeja area of Lagos.
Officers of the Seme Special Area Command of the agency had on Thursday, 21st November, intercepted a 40-year-old suspect, Yakubu Emmanuel Mark, in a commercial bus heading to Ghana at the Gbaji checkpoint along the Badagry-Seme expressway based on credible intelligence.
When searched, a total of 750 grams of cocaine was found in his bag.
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A statement by Femi Babafemi, the Director of Media and Advocacy, noted that a swift follow-up operation was organised to trace and arrest the kingpin behind the trans-border drug trafficking syndicate, who turned out to be Chinese national Tianzhen Yen. He was eventually tracked to MC Hotel behind Alade Market, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, Lagos. When his hotel room was searched, 4.3 grams of cocaine, a gram of methamphetamine, two electronic weighing scales, and a Chinese National Identification Number Card, among other exhibits, were recovered. He was arrested in the vicinity of the hotel.
At the Tin Can Seaport in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Friday, 22nd November, intercepted 92 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis with a combined weight of 23.25 kilograms concealed in two vehicles imported from Canada: a Nissan car and a GMC bus. The discovery was made during a joint examination of a container from Canada by NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and other stakeholders.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne, on Thursday, 21st November, intercepted two containers of imported opioids during a joint examination with Customs Service personnel and other security agencies. A total of 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth ₦1.176 billion in street value were recovered from one container, while the second container held 4.5 million pills of Super Royal Tramadol 225mg, valued at ₦3.15 billion. The combined value of both consignments is ₦4.326 billion.
In Ekiti State, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, 17th November, arrested a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, with 286 grams of Colorado and Loud strains of cannabis at Araromi Street, Ikere-Ekiti. Meanwhile, 64 kilograms of cannabis sativa were recovered at Akinyele Motor Park, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, 21st November.
Not less than 1,200.5 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance were seized during raids by NDLEA officers in parts of Edo State. At Utese Forest in Ovia North-East LGA, 463.5 kilograms were recovered on Thursday, 21st November, while 507 kilograms were seized at a compound in Owan Village, Ovia LGA, where David Ojo Ederin, 60, and Afoje Frank, 24, were arrested on Friday, 22nd November.
Another suspect, Godwin Okhoya, 40, was nabbed with 230 kilograms of the same substance at Okpuje, Owan West LGA.
In Kano, four suspects—Usman Sani, 25; Abdul Mohd, 28; Bunu Ali, 27; and Umar Musa, 30—were arrested on Tuesday, 19th November, by NDLEA operatives at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria-Kano Road, with 100 blocks of cannabis weighing 45 kilograms. In Bauchi State, Ayuba Umar Zaranda, 55, was nabbed with 124 kilograms of cannabis at Pengana Village, Toro LGA.
In the past week, NDLEA Commands and formations across the country have continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities.
These include WADA enlightenment lectures at:
Sardauna Academy, Malumfashi, Katsina State
Community Secondary School, Ede-Oballa, Nsukka, Enugu State
Government Secondary School, Riji, Kano State
Government Secondary School, Ogba, Ahoada East LGA, Rivers State
Youths and community leaders of Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti State
While commending officers and men of the AIIA, SIU, Tin Can, Onne, Seme, Ekiti, Oyo, Kano, Bauchi, and Edo Commands for their arrests and seizures, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes and balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction are greatly appreciated.
