ABUJA: The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency NDLEA has intercepted opioids worth N7.8 billion at the Onne Port in Rivers State and seized of 538,980 pills of tramadol across Kogi, Kaduna and Gombe States.
NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, disclosed that the massive haul in Rivers was uncovered during a joint operation with the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies between August 13 and 14, at the West Africa Container Terminal WACT, Onne.
According to him, five containers placed under watch yielded 875,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup valued at N6.1 billion and 3.5 million pills of trodol benzhexol worth N1.7 billion, bringing the total street value of the seizure to over N7.8 billion.
In a parallel operation, NDLEA operatives intensified their clampdown on pharmaceutical opioids smuggled across inter-state routes.
On August 11, 128,000 capsules of tramadol were recovered from one Sani Mohammed, 32, in Jauro Jatau, Gombe State.
Three days later, along the Okene-Lokoja highway in Kogi State, officers intercepted a commercial bus driven by Sulaiman Oyedokun, 47, en route to Niger State, concealing 337,800 capsules of tramadol.
Similarly, in Kaduna, operatives at Gwargwaje checkpoint, Zaria and Tudun Wada area, arrested two suspects, Mohammed Amdife, 46, and Sulaiman Mohammed, 22, with 22,640 pills of tramadol and rohypnol.
Another suspect, Saleh Babangida, 20, was arrested in Wukari, Taraba State, with 29,840 capsules of tramadol, rounding the total seizures across the affected states to 538,980 pills.
While commending the operatives, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd), said the operations demonstrated the agency’s resolve to cut off supply chains of illicit opioids fueling addiction, crime and insecurity in the country.
Marwa praised the efforts of officers in Rivers, Kogi, Kaduna, Gombe and other states where seizures were made, urging them to sustain “the momentum of the balanced drug control strategy through intelligence-led operations and community sensitization.”
