From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted another batch of seven containers bearing 1,229,400 bottles of codeine syrup worth over N9.835 billion at the Onne ports.
This comes barely three weeks after the seizure of 6,125 cartons of codeine syrup containing 1,050,000 bottles of the opioid, worth over N7.35 billion in street value, at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers State.
Responding to the successful operation, an elated Chairman and Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Retd), said, “The agency has degraded the cartels’ financial capacity and base.”
The latest seizure, according to the Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made on Thursday, 18 July 2024, is the fourth and last set of such consignments that have been under the watchlist of the agency’s Maritime Special Operations Unit Targeting Team. The team worked in partnership with the Port Harcourt Ports Command of the agency and other security agencies, including the Customs Service, for a 100% joint examination of the targeted containers.
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This followed credible intelligence and months of diligent tracking of the consignments from their port of departure. At the joint examination of the containers with other security agencies on Thursday, all seven containers were found to contain a total of 8,774 cartons of codeine-based cough syrup, with 1,229,400 bottles weighing 184,410 kilograms.
A breakdown of the shipments that came from India via the Maersk Vigo vessel shows that the container marked SEKU 6439421 has 875 cartons with 175,000 bottles of codeine weighing 26,250 kg. Other items in the container include 70 cartons of chilli cutters and 55 cartons of hyregra tablets weighing 1,100 kg. Another container marked CMAU 9410422 contains 875 cartons of codeine with 175,000 bottles weighing 26,250 kg. Other items in the container include 15 cartons of chilli cutters and 60 cartons of hyregra tablets weighing 1,200 kg. Also, the container marked TLLU 7595503 has a total of 1,754 cartons of codeine syrup containing 179,400 bottles weighing 26,910 kg.
Four other containers marked TRHU 515117; CMAU 7877125; CMAU 8533700; and CMAU 3882205 contain 175,000 bottles of the same substance each, in addition to other items such as chilli cutters, cartons of hyregra tablets and diclofenac used to mask the shipments.
In his response to the latest seizure, Chairman and Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (Retd), commended all the officers, men and women of the various formations of the agency that had been working on the targeted containers for months for their diligence, vigilance, and professionalism. He equally praised the support received from other stakeholders at the ports that enabled the seamless and successful operations in the course of targeting the shipments. He said, “The operation, which had inflicted heavy losses on the cartels behind the shipments, has further degraded their capacity and financial base.”