NDLEA busts transnational drug syndicate, seizes 1.63m tramadol pills bound for Kano

…Businesswoman, Chadian woman, couple, others arrested in nationwide operations

By Kingsley Omonobi

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor, intercepting 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two trailers heading from Lagos to Kano.

The agency said the intelligence-led operation uncovered 1,630,000 pills of tramadol (250mg) hidden in specially fabricated compartments beneath the cargo floors of the trucks.

According to the NDLEA, the operation came barely a week after operatives intercepted another truck carrying 558,900 tramadol pills concealed in a false compartment after entering Nigeria through the Togo-Benin Republic route.

The first of the two latest trailers was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where officers recovered 853,000 tramadol pills and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.

Two days later, on July 4, operatives tracked and intercepted the second trailer on the same route while it was also heading to Kano. A further 777,000 tramadol pills were recovered, while the driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu, was arrested.

Investigations, the agency said, revealed that all three intercepted consignments formed part of the operations of the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate.

In a separate operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a potent synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing a combined 4.7 kilograms at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos.

The consignments, which arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, respectively, were concealed in cartons labelled “Odugwu.”

The agency said two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, were initially arrested in connection with the shipments. Another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was later arrested after arriving at a logistics company to collect the consignments.

Further investigations led to the arrest of 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme on July 7 in Surulere, Lagos, in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force.

According to the NDLEA, Mokeme admitted she was involved in the illegal trade and claimed she was introduced to it by a friend based in Canada.

In Rivers State, operatives arrested an 80-year-old man, Chika Ugwoji, at Ahoada after allegedly recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.

In Edo State, a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested during a raid on a suspected drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City.

The operation led to the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilograms and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67 kilograms.

In another operation, a Chadian national, Hajara Abdullahi, 38, and her Nigerian associate, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, were arrested in Lagos following the interception of 50,000 tramadol pills in Kogi State on July 12.

The NDLEA said investigations linked the seized consignment to the two suspects, who were subsequently traced and arrested in the Apapa area of Lagos.

The agency also continued its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) advocacy campaign with sensitisation programmes held in schools across Katsina, Enugu, Lagos, Rivers, Ekiti and Kano states.

Commending officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.), praised their commitment to the agency’s anti-drug campaign and urged them to remain vigilant in tackling drug trafficking across the country.

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