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- Nabs Businesswoman, Chadian Woman, Couple in Multi-State Operations
From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recorded fresh successes in its ongoing crackdown on a transnational drug trafficking syndicate smuggling tramadol from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria, with the interception of two trailers concealing a combined 1,630,000 pills of tramadol 250mg.
The trucks, which had fabricated compartments built into them to evade detection, were intercepted barely a week after operatives recovered 558,900 pills of the same substance from a false-bottom compartment in a truck that entered Lagos via the same route.
The first trailer, bound for Kano, was tracked and intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, where officers recovered 853,000 pills hidden beneath the cargo floor. The driver, 22-year-old Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.
Two days later, on July 4, a second trailer was tracked along the same route. Operatives recovered 777,000 pills concealed in a similar compartment and arrested the driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu.
Investigations established that the three trucks intercepted on June 21, July 2, and July 4 all belonged to the same syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin-Nigeria corridor. Cannabis Seized at Lagos Airport
In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud — a synthetic cannabis strain — weighing a combined 4.70 kilograms at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos. The packages, disguised in cartons labelled “Odugwu,” arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3 respectively.
Two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were arrested in connection with the shipments, leading to the arrest of a third suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, who arrived to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
A 44-year-old businesswoman, Chioma Nneka Mokeme, identified as the actual owner of the consignments, was arrested on July 7 in a joint operation with the Area C Command of the Nigeria Police in Surulere, Lagos. Chioma, who claimed to run a printing business, said she was introduced into the trade by a friend, Agbons Collins, who lives in Canada.
Octogenarian, Couple, Chadian Woman Arrested in Other States
In Rivers State, an 80-year-old man, Chika Ugwoji, was arrested in Ahoada on July 14 after being found in possession of 800 grams of skunk.
In Edo State, a couple — Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33 — were arrested on July 13 following a raid on their warehouse along Sapele Road, Benin City. Officers seized 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg, along with compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67kg.
A Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos after 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg were intercepted in Kogi State on July 12. Investigations traced the consignment to the pair, who were subsequently apprehended in the Apapa area of Lagos.
Advocacy Continues Nationwide
The agency’s War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continued across the country, with sensitisation lectures delivered to students and staff at schools including Government Day Junior Secondary School, Bakori (Katsina);
Colliery Technical School, Ngwo (Enugu); Starlight College, Iganmu Ijora (Lagos); Community Secondary School, Kono (Rivers); Odoro High School, Ikole Ekiti; and Government Junior Secondary School, Gabasawa (Kano), among others.
Commending officers of the MMIA, Rivers, Edo, and Kogi Commands for the arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), said their efforts had contributed significantly to ongoing drug control operations nationwide, and charged them to remain vigilant.
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