Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA have intercepted 942 explosives concealed in a sack while on patrol along Kaduna-Zaria Expressway in Kaduna State, North-West Nigeria.
The operation on Saturday led to the interception of the commercial vehicle with the explosive devices coming from Nasarawa State and heading to Zamfara State. The owner of the consignment, 30-year-old suspect Nura Sani Muhammad, also known as Nura Hariji was subsequently arrested by the NDLEA operatives.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brigadier-General Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) has directed that the suspect and exhibits be transferred to the appropriate security agency for further action.
Meanwhile, the Agency has also intercepted no fewer than 3.5 million pills of opioids and 163,000 bottles of codeine syrup with combined street value of over N3.4 million in Port Harcourt, Rivers and Lagos states.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, the bulk of the seizures including two million pills of tafrodol 225mg and 163,000 bottles of codeine syrup, was made on Tuesday, April 29 during a joint examination of a watch-listed container by NDLEA officers, men of Customs Service and other security agencies at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, in Onne, Rivers state, South-South Nigeria.
And after 10 months of painstaking investigation, NDLEA operatives on Saturday, April 26 arrested a wanted drug kingpin, 52-year-old Managing Director of Ovidaq International Limited, Dominic Chiegozie Obijiaku over his involvement in the importation of a consignment of 2,616,060 pills of tramadol 225mg intercepted by NDLEA at Apapa seaport in Lagos on July 28, 2024. A follow-up operation at his house in Lekki led to the seizure of 51 wraps of Canadian Loud weighing 34 grammes.
Still in Lagos, a total of 1,500,000 pills of a controlled opioid were recovered from a suspect Olarenwaju Wahab at the Alaba-Rago area of Ojo on Tuesday, April 29 while the source of the consignment was traced to Q104B Road 25, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, which is the residence of one Obinna Kenneth who is now at large.
NDLEA operatives at the import shed of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos have also intercepted 42 parcels of Canadian Loud, a strong strain of cannabis weighing 20kg, concealed in tins of chocolate, milo beverage, white kidney beans and dark red kidney beans packaged as part of cargos that came into the Lagos airport onboard a British Airways flight from Canada. At least, three suspects including the receiver of the consignment, Monsurat Ewawunmi Lawson, have been arrested between Wednesday, April 30 and Saturday, May 3.
In like manner, a businessman, Bobby Morris Osas was on Friday, May 2 arrested at the Lagos airport while attempting to board a Turkish Airlines flight to Italy. A thorough search of his luggage led to the seizure of 8,130 pills of tramadol 225mg, 200mg and 100mg.
Attempt by another syndicate to ship 104 grammes of tramadol and skunk concealed in bottles of body cream to Iraq through a courier company in Lagos was also thwarted on Monday, April 28 by NDLEA officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation, DOGI.
Five members of a syndicate led by Aminu Musa, also known as Kadagi were on Wednesday, April 30 arrested by NDLEA operatives at Dangoro market in Kano with 50 blocks of skunk weighing 21.6 kilogrammes recovered from them.
In Edo state, South-South Nigeria, operatives acting on intelligence on Thursday, May 1 intercepted at Uromi, Esan North-East, a white Toyota bus conveying assorted opioids from Onitsha, Anambra state heading to Auchi. Recovered from the vehicle include 314,020 pills of tramadol, rophynol, diazepam, exol5; 638 bottles of codeine syrup and 200 ampoules of pentazocine injection, while a suspect
Dare Adeyemo was taken into custody.
A Mazda commercial bus marked XA343TSE was equally intercepted at Agu-Awka junction in Awka, Anambra state, South-East Nigeria by NDLEA operatives on Wednesday, April 30 while a total of 50,400 capsules of tramadol, 500 tablets of co-codamol and 300 ampoules of pentazocine injection were recovered and a suspect Chinedu Eneh arrested.
In Niger state, North-Central Nigeria, NDLEA officers on patrol along the Kontagora-Mokwa Road on Saturday, May 3 intercepted a Mitsubishi canter truck marked RBH 104 ZY. A search of the vehicle led to the recovery of 5,500 capsules of tramadol and 2,300 ampoules of pentazocine injection as well as the arrest of a suspect Yusuf Abubakar, 30.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
