The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 396,000 capsules of tramadol at the Aliyu Mustapha International Airport in Yola, Adamawa State.
The seizure, made on 14 November, comes barely a week after the agency recovered more than 171,000 tramadol capsules in separate operations across Niger, Benue and Taraba States.
NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement on Sunday that a 50-year-old suspect, Ahmed Isyaku Nda, was arrested in connection with the Yola operation. He added that operatives also evacuated 785 kilogrammes of cannabis from a warehouse in Asob Maraba, Karu, Nasarawa State, belonging to a fleeing dealer.
In a separate incident, the agency arrested a suspected drug baron in Lagos who had long posed as a hotelier and businessman. The suspect, identified as Franc CJ Ibemesi, 42, was picked up at his hotel on Ago Palace Way, Isolo, and later taken to his warehouse where officers recovered 42 jumbo bags and four cartons of cannabis, weighing 1.76 tonnes.
Babafemi said cash recovered during the arrest included $11,600, £2,000, €2,200 and 50 Canadian dollars.
Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Osun State foiled an attempt by a syndicate operating from the Orita-Apeje, Araromi-Okeodo forest reserve to distribute over 11 tonnes of processed cannabis. Two trucks conveying the drugs were seized, while seven suspects — Lucky Abiodun, Julius Amos, Victor Ngbikili, Sunday Oduegwu, Ibrahim Akanni, Eze Godstime and Fred Ifeanyichukwu — were arrested.
NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the officers involved and urged personnel across the country to sustain the agency’s coordinated drug control efforts.
The latest operations come days after the NDLEA announced the recovery of a N338 billion drug consignment at the PTML Terminal of the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos. The agency said it is working with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the UK’s National Crime Agency to track those behind the shipment.
