Jelili Gbadamosi
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has recovered 401 rounds of military-grade ammunition concealed in kegs of palm oil and seized illicit drugs worth more than ₦10 billion in a series of intelligence-led operations across the country.
The agency disclosed this in a statement issued on Sunday by its Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
According to the statement, NDLEA operatives arrested a 30-year-old suspect, Mustapha Sani, during a patrol at Baure in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State, where he was allegedly found with 323 rounds of 7.62mm military-grade ammunition.
In a separate operation, another 30-year-old suspect, Abubakar Amadu, was apprehended during a stop-and-search exercise at Jere along the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway with 73 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition hidden inside kegs of red palm oil.
The agency said both suspects had been handed over to the appropriate security agency for further investigation.
Babafemi also disclosed that NDLEA operatives intercepted 3.30 kilograms of cocaine concealed in the walls of cartons containing food items destined for the United Kingdom at the export shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
Following investigations, a 55-year-old businessman and clothing dealer at Balogun Market, Onuigbo Ndubisi Chinedu, was arrested as the alleged mastermind behind the attempted shipment after three cargo agents and another suspect linked to the consignment had earlier been taken into custody.
In another operation, NDLEA arrested 31-year-old entrepreneur Emmanuella Chukwu-Edo at her Surulere residence after intercepting a 2.80kg consignment of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, which arrived from the United States aboard a United Airlines flight.
The agency further recovered 2.24 million pills of Tapentadol 250mg valued at over ₦2.2 billion from a cargo imported from India through the Lagos airport, while a shipment of tramadol concealed in containers of black soap and destined for the United Kingdom was also intercepted at a courier company in Lagos.
At the Apapa Seaport, operatives uncovered 4,777 sachets of Canadian Loud weighing 2,388.5kg and valued at over ₦7.1 billion concealed inside three vehicles in a container.
In Edo State, NDLEA operatives raided a warehouse in Ilushi community, Esan South-East Local Government Area, recovering 1,286kg of cannabis and 86kg of cannabis seeds. Two suspects, Ojore Onweze, 45, and George Agwumede, 30, were separately arrested with 60kg and 13kg of skunk, respectively.
Babafemi added that the agency sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation campaign across schools, workplaces, places of worship and communities nationwide.
He said awareness programmes were recently held at Government Day Secondary School, Sabon Wuse, Niger State; Government Girls Secondary School, Shekara, Kano State; and Otto Primary School, Ebute Metta, Lagos State.
The NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, retired Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa, commended officers of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) and the Lagos airport, Apapa, Edo, Kaduna and Katsina commands for the successful operations, urging them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control efforts.
