Desperate bids by drug cartels to push out millions of illicit drug tablets across Lagos State in South-West Nigeria and other parts of the country for the festive season have been frustrated by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, with the seizure of 8,381,600 capsules and tablets of Tramadol as well as 56,782 bottles of codeine among others in major raids.
According to the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, ahead of Christmas, the agency’s Chairman Brigadier-General Buba Marwa (Rtd) had ordered a sustained surveillance on some targets at Satellite Town and Alaba Rago areas of Lagos State.
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The Satellite Town target was eventually raided on Thursday, December 23, when the drug kingpin, Ezekiel Ibe was arrested and over five tons of high milligrams Tramadol; 225mg and 100mg recovered from his warehouse. A breakdown of the seized drug shows 7,991,600 Tramadol tablets and 390,000 capsules of same weighing 5,468.894 kilogrammes.
In another raid on Monday, December 20 following tasking surveillance in a notorious neighbourhood at Alaba Rago, Alaba area of Lagos State, one Surajo Mohammed was arrested with 941.14 kilogrammes of cannabis while 56,782 bottles of codeine were seized from the store of another drug lord still at large.
Meanwhile, operatives of the Agency have arrested a 22-year-old Amaka Ogonachukwu for attempting to smuggle wraps of cocaine concealed in cooked white rice for her boyfriend, Monday Imagbebenikaro, 40, in the custody of the Edo State Command.
Imagbebenikaro was arrested earlier along Airport Road, Benin City in Oredo LGA, for dealing in crack cocaine, Cannabis Sativa and Danabel (Anabolic steroids).
In a related development, an outbound passenger to Italy on Turkish Airline, Ovire Cyril has been arrested with 114 wraps of heroin with a gross weight of 1.80 kilogrammes during routine search at Gate “C’ Departure Hall of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja, Lagos State. The drugs were concealed inside the pockets of four jean trousers, packed in a black suitcase.
The suspect who confessed that he was pushed into the crime by hardship after he lost his Job, claimed he was promised Five Thousand Euros (€5,000.00) if he successfully delivers the consignment in Italy.
On the same day, during outward clearance of Ethiopian Airline passengers’ luggages at the same gate, a male passenger, Osakue Evbuomwan travelling to Milan in Italy was arrested with 1.55 kilogrammes of Tramadol concealed in a ‘Ghana must go’ bag.
(Editor: Terverr Tyav)
