Amidst holiday celebrations, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) intervened to prevent the influx of illicit drugs into Nigerian communities ahead of Christmas.
The agency successfully intercepted shipments containing a staggering 7.5 million tramadol and codeine pills. These drug items, which included millions of tramadol 225mg pills, thousands of codeine syrup bottles, and bags of Canadian Loud, arrived onboard Turkish Airlines without a clear country of manufacture or origin.
News Agency of Nigeria which first reported the news stated that Femi Babafemi, the Media and Advocacy representative of NDLEA, disclosed this information in a statement from Abuja on a Sunday.
The interception took place at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, where the shipments were being trafficked through the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company Plc (NAHCO) import shed. Officers, in collaboration with the Nigeria Customs and other stakeholders, successfully intercepted the consignment on Friday, December 22.
What he said
- “Apart from being the first time such shipment would be seized on the airline’s flight, it was equally the first of such coming from Hamburg, Germany.
- “The 7.5 million tramadol 225mg pills were also specially designed and packaged as tamol-x concealed in 100 big cartons weighing 7,150kg, which arrived in the country on Dec.11 and were placed under surveillance until last Friday.
- “Preliminary test of the tablets proved positive to tramadol hydrochloride,” the spokesman said.
What you should know
In a parallel operation, NDLEA operatives from the Lagos command searched two shops identified as Chex Mat Global Link Limited at the Trade Fair complex in Ojo, Lagos, on Wednesday, December 20.
- According to Femi Babafemi, the spokesperson, the operation resulted in the recovery of 258 cartons containing codeine-based cough syrup and eight cartons of codeine tablets.
- The seized cartons comprised 49,200 bottles of codeine syrup and 46,200 tablets of the same opioid.
- Continuing their efforts, NDLEA operatives carried out a raid on a residence in Mushin, Lagos, on Thursday, December 21.
- During this operation, a 70-year-old grandmother, Selifat Cole, and her son, Babajide Cole, were apprehended in possession of 117.9kg of cannabis sativa.
