No fewer than 100,000 bottles of codeine syrup with a total weight of 15,325kilograms have been intercepted and seized by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at the Onne seaport, Port Harcourt, Rivers state.
The illicit substance, cough syrup with codeine (100mg), packed in 500 cartons and concealed in a container marked MRKU 1565305, bearing imported food masks made in India, was discovered on Thursday, 10th June 2021 in a warehouse at the Onne port complex during a joint examination with officers of the Nigeria Customs Service, State Security Service, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, among others.
The NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi in a statement disclosed that the seizure followed an intelligence received by NDLEA, as a result of which the container was put on hold and moved to the Customs Government warehouse within the port complex.
Till date, no importer or agent has however come forward in respect of the container but efforts are ongoing to track the owner for further investigation and prosecution.
Also Read : NDLEA arrests suspects supplying drugs to bandits in Niger State
In a related development, NDLEA operatives at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, NAIA, have seized nine cartons of khat, weighing 146.95kilograms at the cargo wing of the airport. The consignment packaged as dried green tea was shipped from Addis Ababa, on board Ethiopian airline flight ET911.
After initial examination and suspicion, a clearing agent was asked to report with the consignee before the release but failed to do so for fear of arrest, a development that led to a laboratory test on the consignment, which tested positive to khat and the eventual seizure.
Chairman NDLEA, Brig. General Buba Marwa (Rtd) has hailed the synergy among various government agencies in the war against illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
Marwa noted that the damage 100,000 bottles of codeine would have done to Nigerian youths if they had slipped through the port to the villages, towns and cities is unimaginable.
(Editor : Paul Akhagbemhe)
