The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of tramadol concealed in two long trailers heading to Kano, dealing another major blow to a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria corridor.
The agency said the intelligence-led operation followed the earlier seizure of 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in a truck that entered Nigeria through the same route.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, one trailer was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, where operatives recovered 853,000 tramadol pills concealed beneath the cargo floor and arrested the 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru.
Two days later, NDLEA officers tracked and intercepted another trailer on the same route, recovering an additional 777,000 tramadol pills hidden in a similar compartment. The driver, 22-year-old Muhammed Nuhu, was arrested.
Investigations revealed that the two trucks, along with another intercepted on June 21, belonged to the same transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating across the Togo-Benin Republic-Nigeria axis.
In a related operation, NDLEA operatives intercepted 4.70 kilograms of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos. The drugs arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights concealed in cartons marked “Odugwu.”
Two cargo agents were initially arrested before investigators apprehended the alleged owner of the consignments, 44-year-old businesswoman Chioma Nneka Mokeme, who reportedly admitted she was introduced to the illicit trade by an associate based in Canada.
Meanwhile, in Rivers State, operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji at Ahoada after recovering 800 grams of skunk from him.
In Edo State, NDLEA officers also arrested a couple, Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, during a raid on their warehouse in Benin City, where they recovered 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5kg and compressed blocks of Canadian Loud weighing 192.67kg.
Additionally, a 38-year-old Chadian woman, Hajara Abdullahi, and her Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, were arrested in Lagos after investigations linked them to the seizure of 50,000 tramadol pills intercepted in Kogi State.
The NDLEA said the coordinated operations underscore its continued efforts to dismantle drug trafficking networks and curb the illicit movement of narcotics across Nigeria.
