The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a fleeing drug kingpin heading a syndicate operating at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos State and six other members of his gang.

The Lagos airport drug syndicate was behind the smuggling of 1, 584,000 tablets of Tramadol seized on Tuesday 15th March by NDLEA operatives in collaboration with Aviation Security (AVSEC) and Customs service personnel at the airport.

According to a statement made available to The Star on Wednesday by the NDLEA spokesman, Femi Babafemi, the seizure include 17 cartons of 250mg Tramadol branded as “Tamra” weighing 669.70kg and five cartons of 225mg Tramadol under the brand name “Royal” with a gross weight of 217.15kg.

Babafemi noted that the psychotropic substance, which was imported into the country from Pakistan was smuggled through the airport tarmac using one of the vehicles of the Skyway Aviation Handling Company (SAHCO) and was intercepted at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) personnel yard.

He added that two suspects, Ofijeh John Mowa, a SAHCO driver and Nyam Gazu Alex who is a security guard with the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCO), were initially arrested in connection with the seizure.

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However, further investigations by the NDLEA operatives led to the arrest of five other persons involved in the crime including the ringleader, Yunana Fidelis, who fled Lagos to Kaduna the moment their lid was blown open.

Others arrested include Adesanwo Temitope, Owoseni Taiwo Temidayo, Fasoranti Shola, and Bamigbade Jonathan.

Fidelis, a staff of NACHO, had escaped and fled to Kaduna after depositing N19.8 million cash with a BDC operator to be paid later into his bank account.

The NDLEA spokesperson added that after tracking Fidelis for days in Kaduna, the drug kingpin, on Friday, March 25, 2022, relocated to Abuja where he was eventually arrested by the anti-drug operatives at 7pm on Sunday, March 27 while he was trying to collect N1 million cash from an undercover agent who posed as a BDC operator.

Babafemi noted that in addition to recovering the cash Fidelis deposited with the BDC operator in Lagos, the NDLEA had also placed a post no debit order on his identified bank accounts.

Speaking on the arrests, the Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) commended the officers of MMIA Command of the Agency for sustaining the offensive action against drug cartels in their respective areas of responsibility.

The Star