By Deborah Nnamdi
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted a total of 26,250,000 pills of tramadol and 508,400 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N16.7billion in street value at the Tincan Port in Lagos and Onne Port in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, the agency’s spokesman, Femi Babafemi, said the illicit drugs were intercepted during a 100 per cent joint examination of watch-listed containers with men of Customs Service and other security agencies at the two ports between Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd October.
“Other illicit consignments intercepted during the joint inspection of the containers include 10 million tablets of Toradol Benzhexol and 28 plastic drums of methamphetamine weighing 700kgs at Tincan and Onne respectively, while 56 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis weighing 28kgs were also recovered from a container that arrived the Lagos port from Canada.
“A suspect, Tsolaye Eburajolo, 40, was arrested at Ago Palace area of Okota Lagos in connection with the cannabis seizure while a bribe of N10m paid NDLEA officers to free the suspect has been kept as part of the exhibits for the prosecution of the case,” Babafemi said.
Also, consignments of opioids concealed in soles of shoes and hair attachments heading to the United States, United Kingdom, and Cyprus have been intercepted by operatives of the NDLEA at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, and three courier companies in the state.
A total of 2,118 pills of tramadol concealed in soles of 13 pairs of shoes going to Cyprus were seized at the export shed of the Lagos airport on 12th October 2024, and an additional 380 tablets recovered from the home of the sender, Okenwa Kelvin Uchenna, during a follow-up operation in Enugu State on Thursday 24th October.
A cash of N968,880 and a Toyota Avalon car marked UWN 389 AS, were also recovered from the suspect at the time of his arrest.
