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Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted two trucks carrying one million, six hundred and thirty thousand (1,630,000) pills of tramadol concealed in specially fabricated compartments after they entered Nigeria through the Togo-Benin Republic corridor.
The latest operation comes barely a week after the anti-narcotics agency recovered 558,900 pills of tramadol hidden in the false bottom of another truck linked to the same trafficking network.
In a statement issued on Sunday, NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said the seizures were the result of intelligence-led operations targeting a syndicate smuggling illicit drugs from Togo through the Benin Republic into Nigeria.
The agency said the first trailer, already en route to Kano, was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“NDLEA officers recovered 853,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the trailer and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru,” the statement read.
Two days later, operatives tracked down a second truck travelling along the same route.
“A total of 777,000 pills of tramadol 250mg concealed in a fabricated compartment beneath the cargo floor of the truck were evacuated and the 22-year-old driver, Muhammed Nuhu, arrested,” the agency added.
Investigations, according to the NDLEA, established that the three trailers intercepted on June 21, July 2 and July 4 belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.
The agency also added that 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, were seized at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.
The consignments, concealed in cartons boldly labelled “Odugwu,” arrived on British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights from Canada.
The NDLEA said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested before another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended while attempting to collect the consignments from a logistics company.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Chioma Nneka Mokeme, a 44-year-old businesswoman identified as the owner of the drugs.
“Chioma, who claimed she is into printing business, said her friend Agbons Collins, who lives in Canada, introduced her into the criminal trade,” the agency said.
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji for alleged drug dealing. The agency said the octogenarian was arrested in Ahoada on July 14 and was found in possession of 800 grams of skunk.
In Edo State, a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested after operatives raided their alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City. The raid led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and 192.67 kilograms of compressed Canadian Loud.
The NDLEA also announced the arrest of Hajara Abdullahi, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, following the seizure of 50,000 pills of tramadol 225mg in Kogi State.
According to the agency, the drug consignment, intercepted on July 12, was traced to the suspects, who were subsequently arrested in the Apapa area of Lagos.
