NDLEA Smashes Syndicate Attempting to Smuggle Drugs to Europe, Asia

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Attempts by drug syndicates to smuggle illicit substances, including various quantities of methamphetamine and opioids concealed in hems of new jean trousers, buttons, local soap and tins of beverage to Europe, United Arab Emirates and Asia have been thwarted by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Lagos.

A statement by the spokesman of the anti- narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi  yesterday listed some of the consignments intercepted by the NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) at courier houses in Lagos.
They include: Tramadol 225mg concealed in hems of new jeans trousers heading to Cyprus; shipment of cannabis sativa hidden in heads of dolls going to Dubai, UAE; sachets of tramadol 225mg buried in tins of beverage going to UAE and another set of same drug hidden in local soap also going to UAE.

They also include a consignment of methamphetamine concealed in buttons heading to Hong Kong.
Babafemi said a shipment of another illicit substance coming from Florida, USA was equally intercepted at a courier firm while the recipient, Daniel Ogi was tracked by NDLEA officers and arrested at Ajao Estate Lagos in November.

Babafemi also said operatives in Lagos last Friday arrested a drug kingpin, Okechukwu Ogala, 56, who specialises in exploiting and recruiting young persons to export meth to Asian countries.
He was arrested at Blue Moon Hotel in Okota area of Lagos with 60 wraps of methamphetamine weighing 1.009 kilogrammes
In another operation in Lagos, operatives last Friday recovered 393 kilogrammes of cannabis in a shop at Akala, Mushin while a suspect, Justin Enuonye, who deals in Canadian Loud was arrested by the police at Victoria Island and transferred to Lagos Command of NDLEA the same day with 154 parcels weighing 92 kilogrammes.

Babafemi also said a team of NDLEA operatives also intercepted a vehicle at Oyingbo area of Lagos and recovered 108 kilogrammes of cannabis from it, while 675 kilogrammes of the same substance were recovered from the store of a wanted dealer, Wahab Olota at Adedoja area of Mushin, Lagos State.

In Edo, NDLEA operatives last Wednesday stormed the Ujiogba forest, Esan West local government area where they recovered 5,988 kilogrammes of cannabis already processed and ready for distribution while a 22-year-old, Mson Bunde, (a.k.a Tete Peter Joseph) found in a hut on the cannabis farm was arrested.
He said that no less than 120,000 capsules of tramadol concealed in new sound systems packed in a Jos, Plateau state-bound bus were seized by NDLEA officers acting on intelligence along Onitsha-Awka road, Anambra state last Monday.

In the same vein, he stated that 123 blocks of cannabis weighing 73 kilogrammes were recovered from a suspect, Abdullahi Bello along Gombe-Bauchi road, Gombe state last Wednesday, while operatives in Abuja seized 168 blocks of same psychoactive substance with a total weight of 101 kilogrammes from the store of a fleeing drug dealer in Kabusa area of Abuja.
The NDLEA spokesman said no fewer than 8,000 bottles of codeine syrup were recovered by NDLEA operatives last Friday when they intercepted a vehicle transporting the opioid along Abuja- Kaduna road.

He said the driver, Shamsu Isiyaku and his conductor, Muhammad Maina were arrested.
Same day, he noted that operatives also arrested Ernest Esechie, 30, with 44.4 kilogrammes of compressed cannabis sativa along Gwantu- Sanga road, Kaduna.
In Kogi, NDLEA officers arrested Ahmad Umar, 18, with 46.4 kilogrammes of cannabis at a check point in Kabba, while Jamilu Zakari, 32, was nabbed at Kofar Idi, Kandahar, Bauchi town, Bauchi state with 125 blocks of same substance that weighed 146 kilogrammes.

At least, 542.3 kilogrammes of cannabis were recovered from a suspect, Festus Egeogoli, 32, when his base at Jakpa road, Warri, Delta state was raided by NDLEA operatives last Wednesday, while 125.9 kilogrammes of same substance were also seized from a store in the same area.

He said the various commands of the agency across the country continued with the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign in the past week.
Meanwhile, the Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd) has lauded his men for outstanding feats in the past week.

He also applauded their counterparts in all the commands across the country for intensifying their WADA advocacy lectures, thus creating parity between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction activities.