NDLEA Foils Multiple Drug Smuggling Attempts, Arrests Dozens Across Nigeria

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has announced a number of significant victories in its ongoing fight against drug trafficking, including foiled attempts to smuggle illegal substances to the United States, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.

The agency intercepted large amounts of cocaine, tramadol, cannabis (including strains such as Loud and Skunk), and Molly, which were hidden in a variety of clever locations.

Over the last week, NDLEA agents have made numerous arrests and seizures throughout the country.

Two significant arrests were made at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Lagos.

On Saturday, March 8th, 43-year-old businesswoman Jakpor May was apprehended at Gate ‘C’ as she attempted to board an Air France flight to Italy with 190 parcels of tramadol and a quantity of skunk in her luggage. May reportedly admitted to intending to resell the drugs in Italy.

Yahaya Ayinla, 60, was arrested at MMIA on Tuesday, March 11th, while attempting to ship a consignment of clothing containing 400 grammes of skunk to New York.

Further investigations at Lagos logistics companies revealed more than two kilogrammes of Loud, Molly, and Tramadol hidden in Vitamin C bottles and women’s clothing bound for the United States.

Other significant seizures are:

Prayer beads, footwear, and board games: Between March 10th and 12th, 230 grammes of cocaine concealed within these items were intercepted on their way to Saudi Arabia, Poland, and the United Arab Emirates.

Kano: 479 kilogrammes of compressed skunk were confiscated from 40-year-old Hassan Haruna in the Chalawa area.

Kogi State: 58,300 tramadol pills were discovered on a commercial bus travelling from Lagos to Abuja.

Raids in Kaduna State resulted in the arrest of Idris Hamza (4,900 tramadol pills) and Aminu Magaji (2,900 tramadol pills).

Kwara State: A total of 61,900 tramadol pills were seized in separate cases.

Polycarp Adeku was arrested in Taraba State for possessing 15.77 kilogrammes of skunk.

Osun State: 48.7 kilogrammes of various cannabis strains were intercepted in a commercial bus, prompting the arrest of nine suspects.

Abuja: Ade Esan (aka Pastor) was arrested with 27,800 tramadol pills, while Usman Mohammed was apprehended with skunk and cocaine.

Chinaza Nwogu (aka Young Money) was arrested in Abia State with a large amount of heroin, methamphetamine, cannabis sativa, and cocaine, as well as a significant amount of cash.

NDLEA Chairman/CEO Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd) praised the agency’s operatives for their hard work, emphasising the importance of a balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction.

The agency is continuing its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaigns in schools, places of worship, and communities.