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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says it has intercepted over 1.3 million pills of tramadol and other opioids and about 6,000 kilograms of cannabis, with a combined street value of over N3.4 billion, in operations across Lagos, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and the FCT.
Among those arrested was a trafficker who posed as a senior police officer to pass checkpoints. Innocent Ekpe, 49, was picked up on Wednesday, September 16, along the Benin-Onitsha Expressway in Asaba, Delta State, with 292.48kg of skunk hidden in a Toyota Sienna bus.
The agency, in a statement by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said he had passed himself off as “Godwin Emeka”, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, using a forged identity card. An accomplice, Nduka Joseph, 39, was also arrested.
The biggest single seizure came at the Tin Can Island Port, Lagos, where operatives intercepted 1,200 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 603.75kg, valued at N1.81 billion. The drugs were in a 40-foot container from Montreal that arrived on September 12 and was placed under surveillance. A joint examination with Customs and other agencies on September 16 found them packed in 31 jumbo bags inside two Toyota Sienna vehicles.
On Tuesday, September 15, operatives on patrol at Chachi, Tafa LGA, Niger State, arrested Bashir Usman (20), Abubakar Nuhu (18) and Abdulrahman Abdulwahab (18) on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. They had two locally fabricated AK-47 rifles with a magazine, a locally made pistol with magazine, and nine rounds of 9mm ammunition in a travel bag.
FCT/Nasarawa route: Aminu Isyaku (23) and Jamilu Habibu (25) were arrested on Friday, September 18, on the Abaji-Abuja Highway with over 1.1 million tramadol tablets and capsules, codeine syrup, methamphetamine and Exol tablets in eight sacks, en route from Onitsha to Mararaba.
Gombe: Sabi’u Umar (27) and Hassana Muhammad (19) were arrested at Barunde and Gombe Main Market with 154,480 tramadol capsules on September 18.
Lagos: Onyeka Ofor was arrested at his Aguda, Surulere residence on September 18 with 48,900 tramadol 225mg pills.
Edo: Matthew Ossai, 45, was arrested at his auto-repair workshop on Agbor Road, Benin City, which he allegedly used as a storage front. Officers recovered 48kg of Canadian Loud and 152g of methamphetamine.
Ondo: Four suspects, Blessing Effiong, Saviour Peter, David Friday Sunday and Ability Peter Sunday, were arrested when operatives destroyed 5,000kg of skunk on a two-hectare farm in Ita-Ogbolu forest on September 15. About 48kg of dry and fresh cannabis was kept as evidence.
Imo: Ifesinachi Godwin, 25, was arrested on the Owerri-Onitsha Road with 43.85kg of skunk on September 18.
Lagos: Luke Ugokwe was arrested after seven cartons of cannabis sativa (59kg) were intercepted at a logistics company. Separately, Ibrahim Hudu, 43, was arrested at Apongbo on Thursday, September 17, with 998.38kg of nitrous oxide.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig Gen Mohamed Marwa (rtd), commended the officers of the Lagos, Tin Can, Edo, Niger, Delta, Ondo, Gombe, Imo and FCT commands for their professionalism. He urged them to sustain the agency’s “balanced approach” to drug control, combining enforcement with prevention.
Meanwhile, commands nationwide continued War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation in schools and communities over the past week, including lectures in Ogbomoso, Awka, Epe and Jalingo, and an advocacy visit by the Delta Ports Command to the Pere of Ogbe-Ijoh Kingdom in Warri.
