NDLEA Intercepts UK, Europe-Bound Cocaine, Opioids Packaged In Female Sanitary Pads, Hair Cream

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intercepted cocaine and pharmaceutical opioids concealed in women’s sanitary pads and hair treatment cream loaded into containers bound for the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Cyprus.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by the anti-narcotics agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, 30 parcels of cocaine weighing 1.1 kilogrammes were discovered by NDLEA officers from the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI, during an examination of cargoes bound for Ireland last Tuesday. Last Tuesday, another consignment of 24 parcels of cocaine weighing 862 grammes was intercepted at the same company, disguised as hair cream containers and bound for the United Kingdom. Another consignment of 24 parcels of cocaine weighing 862 grammes, hidden in hair cream containers and meant for delivery in the UK, was intercepted at the same company last Friday.

Babafemi also revealed that NDLEA operatives seized 525 pills of tramadol 225mg and ecstasy (MDMA) concealed in ladies’ sanitary pads bound for Cyprus at another courier firm in Lagos last Tuesday, as well as a shipment of 200 ampoules of promethazine injection and pentazocine injection hidden in food items and herbs bound for London, UK, on Wednesday.

He also stated that operatives intercepted another consignment of tramadol 225mg buried in granulated melon bound for South Africa from Cameroon on Friday.

He also revealed that 550,000 tramadol pills were intercepted at the Port Harcourt International Airport in Port Harcourt last Monday during a joint examination of a cargo arriving from Delhi, India, with Nigerian Customs Service personnel, while a suspect had already been arrested in connection with the seizures.

He stated that in Ekiti state, NDLEA operatives supported by Nigerian Army men stormed three camps inside the Ise-Ekiti forest reserve, in the Ise/Orun local government area, where over 100,000 kilogrammes of cannabis spread across 51 hectares of farmland were destroyed, noting that the affected settlements include: Aba Saalaja with 23 hectares; Aba Paanu with 12 hectares; and Aba Arogunmatidi with 16 hectares, all within the Ise-Ekiti forest reserve.

Babafemi stated that two suspects, Bala Musa, 42, and Danladi Muhammad, 44, were arrested last Friday along Toro-Jos road in Kaduna with 305kg cannabis concealed in a false compartment of a J5 boxer bus bearing the number YLA 682 XM, while another suspect, Aminu Ayuba, 24, was arrested in Makarfi town with 18 kilogrammes of the same substance. Umar Usman, 40, and Zubairu Kabiru, 45, were arrested on the same day along the Zaria-Kaduna highway with 1300 tramadol tablets.

Uzairu Ya’u, 30, of Jigawa state, was apprehended with 32.6 kilogrammes of cannabis last Thursday at Koran Shehu, while operatives in Kogi state intercepted 77,300 tramadol, diazepam, and exol-5 pills, as well as 1,230 bottles of codeine, in a commercial bus driven by Attai Okolo, 68, along Aloma – Ejule road, Ofu LGA, Kogi state.

Another suspect, Mohammed Idris, 56, was apprehended along the Okene-Lokoja-Abuja motorway last Tuesday with 42.400 kilogrammes of cannabis en route to Kano, while NDLEA operatives in Borno state arrested Idris Muhammad, 40, in the Ramat area of Maiduguri last Thursday with 13,100 pills of tramadol, and their counterparts in Kano apprehended Hakilu Usman, 35, with 25.8 kilogrammes of cannabis and 3,000 pills of diazepam along the Kano-Daura road last Wednesday

Musa Adamu, 30, was arrested in Zing with 87,790 tramadol pills, while in Osun state, a raid on the home of a drug kingpin, Mayowa Awe (a.k.a Bishop) in Ilesa last Wednesday resulted in the seizure of 43 grammes of crack cocaine, 23 grammes of methamphetamine, 17.126 kilogrammes of cannabis, and a locally made pistol.

Babafemi noted that the agency’s commands and formations across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces, and communities, among other places, over the last week.

Meanwhile, while commending the officers and men of the agency’s DOGI, PHIA, Ekiti, Kano, Osun, Taraba, Kaduna, Jigawa, Kogi, Bauchi, and Borno Commands for the arrests and seizures, NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes, as well as those of their compatriots across the country, are greatly appreciated.

He urged them, however, not to rest on their laurels and to continue to step up ongoing drug supply and demand reduction efforts.