The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has intercepted three truckloads of opioids, comprising 3,450,000 pills and 344,000 bottles of codeine syrup at Abule Ado, in the Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area of Lagos State.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, while confirming the drug seizure in a statement on Sunday, said three suspects were arrested in connection with the incident on Thursday.
The statement partly read, “The multi-billion naira consignments were loaded into two 40-ft container trucks and another 20-ft truck at the AML bonded terminal, Abule-Osun, near the International Trade Fair complex before heading to a large warehouse at Abule-Ado, where the NDLEA officers eventually arrested the suspects and recovered the opioid consignments on Thursday, May 9, 2024.”
Babafemi also revealed that in Ekiti State, a 75-year-old grandpa, Jibril Audu, was arrested on Friday with 7.5 kilogrammes of cannabis at Oke-asa village, Ijero-Ekiti, during a raid, while a 70-year-old grandma, Tikwase Nytor, was nabbed with 15.6 kilogrammes of the same substance on Thursday during a raid at Achusa, along the International Market Road, Makurdi, Benue State.
Also, in another operation carried out on Tuesday, the NDLEA operatives arrested a suspect, Nwankwo Ejike, in the Coker area of Lagos, where 100 litres of codeine syrup were recovered from him, while 60 litres of the same substance were seized from one Clinton Akinye in the same area on the same day.
The statement added, “Not less than 37.5kg of cannabis sativa loaded in a Toyota Camry was recovered from another suspect, Adegbola Segun, 47, when the car was intercepted at the Mile 12 area of Lagos on Monday, May 6.
“Another consignment of opioids consisting of 59,106 pills of tramadol and different quantities of codeine syrup and Rohypnol being taken across the border to Garua, Cameroon, was intercepted by the NDLEA officers on Monday, May 6, along Mubi-Yola Road, Adamawa State.
“Two suspects linked to the drugs: Abubakar Auwal, 39, and Adamu Abubakar, 25, aka Bamanga, a trans-border trafficker, who was to take the consignment from Mubi across to Cameroon, were promptly arrested.”
Similarly, the NDLEA officials in Edo State were reported to have raided the Iguiye forest in the Ovia North East Local Government Area on Saturday, “where a total of 11, 636.185 kg of cannabis was destroyed on three farms measuring 4.654474 hectares, while an additional 188kg of the same psychoactive substance was recovered, and a suspect, Itah Nyong, was arrested during the overnight operation.”
