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From Godwin Tsa, Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) recorded multiple major seizures across the country in the past week, including a N12.3 billion consignment of Canadian cannabis at the Apapa ports, Lagos, the interception of a businesswoman attempting to smuggle cocaine to China, and the arrest of three transnational traffickers moving 558,900 tablets of Tramadol concealed in a truck’s false compartment.
A 38-year-old businesswoman, Iwebema Ogechi Peace, was arrested on June 21 at the departure hall of Terminal 2, Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, while attempting to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing. NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, found four parcels of cocaine weighing a combined 7.5 kilograms concealed in a false bottom built into her luggage.
Iwebema claimed she travelled to China regularly to purchase goods for resale in Nigeria.
In a separate operation, NDLEA’s Apapa Strategic Command, working with Customs and other port stakeholders, recovered 4,959 kilograms of “Canadian Loud” a potent cannabis strain from a 40-foot container at the Apapa port complex on June 23.
The drugs, valued at over N12.3 billion, had been tracked by the agency since April 25, when the container left Toronto by truck before passing through Montreal, Morocco’s Tanger Med port, and Lagos’s Tin Can port over a five-week journey, finally arriving at Apapa on June 22.
NDLEA operatives in Abuja, working with their counterparts in Anambra, also uncovered a syndicate that plants illicit drugs in unsuspecting passengers’ luggage at motor parks. The scheme surfaced after operatives intercepted methamphetamine concealed in a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi, Anambra, to Abaji in the FCT on June 20.
A waybill package containing the suspected drug, weighing 467.7 grams, was hidden inside a sack of clothes with a phone number written on it for collection.
Following the package’s intended recipient, Mrs. Gloria Peter, operatives arrested her at Utako motor park, though she denied any knowledge of the package.
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A follow-up operation in Nnewi led to the arrest of the bus loaders, one of whom said he had planted the drugs on the instruction of the bus driver, Abdurrazak Isah.
The driver’s subsequent confession implicated a passenger, Onyebuchi Victor Okoye, as the actual owner of the drugs; Okoye was later arrested in Utako.
In other operations:
A 57-year-old man, Ikechukwu Uwakwe, was arrested on June 27 at a motor park in Iddo, Lagos, with 209.5kg of “Scottish Loud” cannabis being transported to Enugu.
Two Benin Republic nationals, Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19, along with a Nigerian, Jackson ThankGod, were arrested on June 21 at the Mile 2 bridge while transporting 558,900 tablets of Tramadol 250mg from Togo through Benin Republic, concealed in a fabricated compartment of their truck.
Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo were arrested on June 26 along the Lagos–Ibadan expressway with 118kg of skunk hidden among legitimate goods in a truck travelling from Lagos Island to Onitsha.
Helen Ese Idiji, 40, and Rashidat Sa’adullah, 53, were arrested on June 26 at Amukoko, Lagos, with 28.8kg of skunk. Investigators said Idiji stored her drug consignments at Sa’adullah’s residence before distributing them to customers.
The agency said its commands nationwide also continued public sensitisation activities under its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign, including lectures at schools in Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi, and Enugu states over the past week.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Marwa (Rtd), commended officers across the affected commands for the arrests and seizures, and urged personnel nationwide to sustain the pressure on traffickers.
