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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested a 55-year-old Balogun Market trader, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, for allegedly attempting to export 3.30 kilogrammes of cocaine concealed in cartons of food items bound for the United Kingdom.
Onuigbo was arrested on Thursday, July 23, a day after operatives intercepted the consignment at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Investigators initially arrested three cargo agents—Nkwor Onyekachukwu Justina, Adeleke Abiola Taoheed and Ukanwa Grace Pilgrim—who handled the shipment.
Their arrests led operatives to Kenneth Okakpu, who delivered the illicit consignment to the agents, and subsequently to Onuigbo, identified as the alleged kingpin of the syndicate.
He was reportedly arrested while attempting to export another consignment of cocaine.
In another operation, 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo was arrested on Tuesday, July 21, at her residence in Surulere after NDLEA operatives recovered 2.80 kilogrammes of “Loud”, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which had arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight a day earlier.
At the Lagos airport, operatives also recovered 2,240,000 Tapentadol 250mg pills valued at more than N2.2 billion from an Air Maroc cargo shipment from India during a joint cargo examination conducted on Friday, July 24, following credible intelligence.
Days earlier, on Wednesday, July 22, another consignment of tramadol concealed inside containers of black soap and destined for the United Kingdom was intercepted at a Lagos courier company.
At the Apapa Seaport, officers discovered 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5 kilogrammes and valued at over N7.1 billion concealed inside a container loaded with vehicles during an examination conducted on Monday, July 20.
Other News
Ammunition seized in Katsina, Kaduna
In Katsina State, 30-year-old Mustapha Sani was arrested on Wednesday, July 22, during a patrol at Baure in Safana Local Government Area with 323 rounds of military-grade ammunition—200 rounds of 7.62mm and 123 rounds of 7.6mm—concealed on him.
Similarly, along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway, another suspect, Abubakar Amadu, 30, was arrested during a stop-and-search operation at Jere with 73 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition hidden inside kegs of red oil.
The two suspects have since been handed over to the appropriate security agencies for further investigation.
In Edo State, a raid on Ilushi community in Esan South-East Local Government Area on Sunday, July 19, led to the seizure of 1,286 kilogrammes of cannabis and 86 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds from a warehouse.
In separate operations, Ojore Onweze, 45, was arrested with 60 kilogrammes of skunk, while George Agwumede, 30, was caught with 13 kilogrammes of the same substance.
Alongside its enforcement operations, NDLEA commands across the country sustained the agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities.
Recent awareness programmes were held at Government Day Secondary School, Sabon Wuse, Niger State; Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano State; and Otto Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI), MMIA, Apapa, Edo, Kaduna and Katsina commands for the successful operations and urged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction.
Editor’s note: The figure “2,240,000,000 Tapentadol pills” in the original copy appears inconsistent with the stated value of N2.2 billion and is likely a typographical error. It should be verified against the NDLEA statement before publication.
