Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have thwarted the tramadol drug cartel’s desperate attempts to smuggle into Nigeria over two million four hundred sixty thousand (2, 465, 000) tablets of the pharmaceutical opioid in 225 mg and 250 mg, weighing two thousand, three hundred and fifty six kilograms (2,356kgs), with an estimated street value of one billion, forty million naira (N1, 040, 000, 000).
The narcotic was found on Friday, October 7th, just a week after NDLEA agents seized 13.5 million pills of the same opioid valued at over N8.8 billion from one of a wealthy drug lord’s mansions in the upscale neighborhood of Victoria Garden City, VGC, Lekki Lagos.
Following reliable information, the Agency expressed interest in a shipment of 52 cartons that arrived in Nigeria from Karachi, Pakistan on an Ethiopian Airlines flight with six different airway bills. The shipment included seven cartons of tamral, a brand of 250 mg tablets, and 45 cartons of tramaking, a brand of 225 mg tablets.
The 52 cartons of the seized substance, which are above the acceptable limit for medical use and are prohibited in the nation, were transported to the Agency’s facility soon after the consignment arrived at the Lagos airport. The NDLEA then requested a joint examination of the consignment with other stakeholders after its information was confirmed by all.
Another attempt to export through the airport 15 packets of cannabis and 600 grams of tramadol 225 mg to Dubai, United Arab Emirates was also unsuccessful. Operatives confiscated the shipment and detained the freight agent, Osahor Alex Ekwueme, who had tendered it for export.
Ifeanyi Egbuwaohia, the mastermind behind the shipment, was detained in the Igando neighborhood of Lagos, weeks after NDLEA agents discovered 5.20kg of cannabis hidden in kegs of palm oil headed to Dubai.
Although Ifeanyi is employed as a technician at Computer Village in Ikeja, he also collaborates with a drug network there to distribute illegal substances. A few hours after his detention, agents at the airport also stopped a second shipment of the same material, weighing 2.60kg, that he had sent for export to Dubai.
Two people, Olatunji Kehinde Temiola and Osemojoye Femi Sunday, were detained in connection with the shipment, which also contained 1.30kg of cannabis concealed in rebuilt engine blocks and was headed for Dubai.
In the meantime, agents in Sokoto state detained Onyeka Owo, 28, with 443 bottles of syrup with a codeine base while Peace Ayuba, a female drug dealer, was detained in Kaduna state with 78 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 849.5kg.
Alhaji Surajo Mohammed, a known drug dealer who was apprehended by the NDLEA in the Ojo, Lagos neighborhood of Alaba Rago, was found guilty and given a seven-year prison term by the Federal High Court in Lagos, which was presided over by Justice Yellin Dogoro, ten months after his arrest. On Monday, December 20, 2021, Surajo was detained with 941.15 kg of marijuana. He was charged in court under charge number FHC/L/370c/2021. However, the judge offered the convicted party the choice of a seven million naira fine in his decision, which was given on Thursday, October 6, 2022.
Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, praised the officers and soldiers of the MMIA, Kaduna, Sokoto, and Lagos commands for their accomplishments and challenged them and their compatriots throughout the nation to be consistent, determined, and unyielding.
