The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has uncovered several attempts to smuggle illicit drugs into and out of Nigeria, with traffickers concealing substances in wooden sofas, cartons of snacks, detergent packs and women’s headwear.
The agency also reported the interception of 750,000 tablets of Tapentadol, an opioid, worth about ₦900 million at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
“The consignment, made up of eleven cartons packed in two wooden structures, arrived at the import shed of the airport on Tuesday 3rd November aboard an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Ahmedabad, India,” the statement said.
“Suspicious of the declaration, NDLEA officers placed the cargo under surveillance until a joint examination with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service and other sister agencies on Friday. The opioid pills were found in ten of the eleven cartons, while only the last carton contained paracetamol tablets as cover.”
In one of the operations, NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, November 4, intercepted 32 parcels of Loud, a strain of cannabis weighing 16.15 kilogrammes, concealed inside two wooden sofas in a consolidated cargo shipment from Houston, Texas, United States, according to a statement signed by its Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Sunday.
The consignment arrived aboard a Turkish Airlines flight at the airport’s import shed.
A freight agent, Ibrahim Abdulwaheed Adewale, who reportedly presented himself to clear the shipment, was arrested.
In a follow-up operation on Friday, November 6, a 34-year-old caterer from Ibadan, Oyo State, Adeoye Sarafa Ojo, was arrested when he came to collect the package.
The NDLEA said Ojo claimed he had been sent by a friend, Taiwo Anuoluwapo Olusegun.
In another operation, operatives intercepted nine parcels of illicit substances concealed in two cartons of snacks labelled “Michael Tea Guy” in a cargo shipment from the United Kingdom.
The shipment arrived aboard an Air Peace flight on October 23.
According to the agency, two of the parcels contained 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis, while forensic analysis confirmed that the remaining seven contained chemicals used in the production of Colorado, a synthetic cannabis.
A 51-year-old freight agent, Afolabi Abiodun Wale, who came to clear the consignment, was arrested.
The agency said two additional cartons addressed to the same recipient subsequently arrived from the UK aboard an Allied Air flight.
A sting operation conducted between October 26 and 28 led to the arrest of another 51-year-old suspect, Okwuite Benjamin Ojone, when he took delivery of the four cartons.
A search of the additional cartons revealed three parcels weighing 3.30 kilogrammes concealed in two packs of detergent, as well as 11 plastic bottles containing mostly liquid substances weighing 16.25 kilogrammes.
The NDLEA said the combined seizures from the shipments amounted to 1.20 kilogrammes of cannabis and 28.65 kilogrammes of chemicals used in producing synthetic cannabis.
The agency also reported the interception of 600 tablets of Tramadol 225mg concealed in female headwear in a shipment from Asaba, Delta State, destined for the United Kingdom.
Two other shipments of tramadol, comprising 20 capsules from Benin City and 96 capsules from Sapele, Delta State, were concealed in vitamin C containers and intercepted during the same period.
At courier companies in Lagos, operatives also intercepted 46 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.2 kilogrammes, packed in two cartons and destined for the UK on November 3.
Earlier, on October 30, the agency intercepted 296 tablets of Swinol being shipped from Lagos to Australia.
Nationwide Drug Raids
Beyond the airport and courier interceptions, the NDLEA reported several arrests and seizures across different states.
In Ondo State, operatives on November 6 recovered 148 bags of cannabis weighing 1,818 kilogrammes during a raid on Odofin Road, Uso.
The agency also raided a cannabis farm in Board Forest, where officers destroyed a one-hectare plantation, recovered 242 kilogrammes of the substance and arrested a 36-year-old suspect, Itoro Linus Akpan.
In neighbouring Ekiti State, a 53-year-old man, Agbo Paul Peter, was arrested at Osin Forest, Osin-Ekiti, on November 5 with 216 kilogrammes of cannabis and cannabis seeds.
In Edo State, operatives intercepted a Golf saloon car loaded with 19 bags of cannabis weighing 201 kilogrammes along the Auchi-Ibillo Road in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area on November 6.
The driver, Abdulmumid Isah, 39, and a passenger, Danako Godwin, 25, were arrested.
In a separate operation at a drug joint on Ihama Road, GRA, Benin City, three suspects, identified as Emmanuel Sunday, 25; Samuel Bala, 31; and Loveth Momodu, 20, were arrested with quantities of Colorado, Loud and cannabis.
In Taraba State, NDLEA operatives arrested three suspects with 283 blocks of compressed cannabis weighing 226.255 kilogrammes within two days at the agency’s checkpoint in Lankaviri, Yorro Local Government Area.
The suspects were identified as Ibrahim Abdullahi, 45; Kabiru Usman, 25; and Babangida Babayo, 32.
In Enugu State, a 57-year-old man, Celestine Uzochukwu Ejiakor, was arrested at a checkpoint in Eke Obinagu on November 3 with 44 blocks of cannabis weighing 22.5 kilogrammes.
At another checkpoint in Ugwuoba, operatives arrested Godwin Shaapera, 40, with 24,000 capsules of Tramadol weighing 13.4 kilogrammes and 697 grammes of ketamine.
In Delta State, Edugua Othuke, 30, was arrested at Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area, on October 31 with 10.54 kilogrammes of skunk, 9.4 kilogrammes of cannabis seeds and 4.3 grammes of methamphetamine.
Another suspect, Akpofure Tobore, 34, was arrested on November 4 at Upper Agbarho, Ughelli, with quantities of skunk, tramadol, rohypnol and nitrous oxide, commonly known as laughing gas.
In Lagos, operatives arrested a 32-year-old man, Abubakar Ali, at Marine Beach, Apapa, on November 6.
The agency said officers recovered several drugs from a small store he had constructed inside the sitting room of his apartment. The substances included 1.06 kilogrammes of Tramadol 250mg, 1.27 kilogrammes of Tramadol 225mg, 400 grammes of pregabalin capsules, 355 grammes of diazepam, 200 millilitres of codeine and 6.07 kilogrammes of cannabis.
