The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries concealed in shoe soles and food items at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport in the Ikeja area of Lagos State.

The passports were intercepted at the export shed of the Lagos airport in a series of operations in December 2024 following the arrest of ex-convict, Sodade Sunday Eniola, who was apprehended by operatives of the Tincan Command of the NDLEA in June 2024 for drug trafficking.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, who revealed this via a statement on Sunday, January 5, 2025, said Eniola was prosecuted and sentenced to four years imprisonment.

“When he was convicted by a Federal High Court in Lagos on 14th June 2024, the trial judge gave him an option of paying N750,000 fine, which he paid and was let go,” Babafemi stated.

He said the ex-convict was rearrested by NDLEA officers for passport racketeering.

He noted: “However, in a series of operations in December 2024, NDLEA operatives at the export shed of the Lagos airport intercepted no fewer than 52 passports of different countries from shipments going to Canada, Russia, and other countries concealed in shoe soles and food items.

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“Further investigations led to the arrest of four members of three syndicates involved in the racket.

“The arrested suspects include: Sodade Sunday Eniola; Ayinde Saheed Awwal; Salaudeen Afeez Ayode; and Sheriff Adebayo Bamigbade. Both the exhibits and the suspects were on Monday 30th December 2024 handed over to the Zonal Command of the Nigerian Immigration Service in Lagos for further investigation and possible prosecution.”

Babafemi further disclosed that 316,800 bottles of codeine-based syrup were recovered from two containers by NDLEA officers at the Port Harcourt Ports Complex, Onne in Rivers State during a joint examination of the shipments with the officers of Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies on Tuesday, December 31, 2024.

The NDLEA spokesman said the seizure followed credible intelligence processed by the Port Harcourt Port Command of the anti-drug agency.

The Star