* Real estate agent, 70-year-old woman, others arrested
Michael Olugbode in Abuja
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has dismantled multiple drug trafficking networks operating across eight states, intercepting consignments from the United Kingdom and recovering more than 2.3 tonnes of assorted illicit drugs, including synthetic cannabis, tramadol, pregabalin and cannabis.
The operations, which also exposed the increasingly elaborate methods used by traffickers to move narcotics, resulted in the arrest of a real estate agent, a tour agent, a 70-year-old woman and several other suspects.
The spokesman of the agency, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said operatives intercepted two consignments of Colorado, also known as Colos, concealed in consolidated cargoes from the United Kingdom at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.
He revealed that in the first seizure, 27 parcels of the synthetic cannabis weighing 32.2 kilogrammes were recovered from a large luggage.
A real estate agent, Abideen Salami, who arrived to collect the consignment using a secret collection code allegedly sent by his UK-based brother, was arrested last Wednesday.
He noted that a follow-up operation linked to a second UK shipment led to the arrest of Nurudeen Kadiri, 44, who was designated to receive another consignment of Colorado weighing 12.25 kilogrammes.
The suspect reportedly told investigators that his brother in the UK sent the drugs.
The agency’s Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) also uncovered attempts to conceal Colorado in music equipment.
At Maza Maza motor park in Lagos, operatives recovered three packs of the substance hidden inside a music speaker rigged for onward transportation to Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and ultimately Liberia.
A tour agent, Ifeanyi Augustine, 41, and the alleged owner of the consignment, Obasi Ugochuckwu, 46, were arrested during a sting operation at a nearby eatery.
At Iddo motor park, another suspect, Ifeanyi Nwokolo Henry, was arrested on Friday, September 11, while attempting to dispatch 2.1 kilogrammes of Colorado to Kano.
The agency’s operations in other states revealed that the trafficking networks extended beyond synthetic cannabis to prescription drugs and other controlled substances.
In Delta State, separate operations in Ughelli and Asaba led to the recovery of ampoules of pentazocine injection, codeine syrup, tramadol, diazepam, flunitrazepam, popularly known as Hypnox, and MDMA, also called Molly. Some of the drugs were concealed in music speakers.
Two suspects, Emeka Oji and Chukwuebuka Anedi, were arrested in connection with the seizures.
In Kano, a raid at Sabon Gari resulted in the arrest of 20-year-old Saidu Adamu with 785,000 capsules of pregabalin weighing 669.425 kilogrammes.
A separate stop-and-search operation along the Zaria–Kano–Hadejia road uncovered 1,700 tablets of diazepam hidden inside loaves of bread. The drugs were seized from Habibu Sabitu, 28.
At Katako Market, Jos, Plateau State, operatives arrested 51-year-old Chinedu Uzor with 157,100 capsules of tramadol.
The NDLEA also intensified its assault on cannabis cultivation and distribution. In Edo State, operatives destroyed 4,832.56 kilogrammes of skunk cannabis on farms in Usen Forest, Igwe-Oke Forest and Ogboha Forest, covering Ovia South-West, Owan East and Owan West Local Government Areas. A 39-year-old suspect, Sunday Segun, was arrested on Friday, September 11.
In Akure, Ondo State, operatives, acting on credible intelligence, raided a residence along Oke-Iya, Ijoka Road, on Wednesday, September 9. They recovered 186 kilogrammes of skunk concealed in the boot of a Toyota Avalon car marked ABJ 917 FV.
The consignment was allegedly prepared for transportation to Jos for onward distribution. A 58-year-old suspect, Paul Ogbuwala, was arrested.
In Kaduna State, a female suspect, Hannah Michael, was arrested at Gonin Gora with 369.6 kilogrammes of cannabis.
Four suspects were also arrested at Ovom, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, where operatives recovered 110 bags of cannabis weighing 876 kilogrammes. Those arrested included 70-year-old Godwoman Gboriye, Motombo Silver, 44, Pere Andrew, 39, and Keme Andrew, 43.
The latest seizures bring into focus the scale and geographical spread of the agency’s ongoing campaign against drug trafficking, with operations cutting across airport cargo channels, motor parks, residential premises, road corridors, markets and cannabis farms.
Beyond enforcement, the agency said its commands and formations sustained its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities in schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities during the week.
Commending the officers and men of the DOGI, MMIA, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Kaduna, Plateau, Bayelsa and Kano Commands, the NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (rtd), charged them to sustain the agency’s balanced approach to drug control.
Marwa urged officers to continue shutting down the pipelines used by drug cartels, whether through airports, seaports, land borders or the hinterland where cannabis is cultivated.