The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted 6,125 cartons of codeine syrup containing 1,050,000 bottles of the opioid worth N7, 350,000,000 at the Port Harcourt Ports complex in Onne, Rivers State.

The seizure made from six containers on Saturday, June 29, 2024, was the third of such in the past four weeks.

The NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, June 30, said the seizure followed credible intelligence and diligent tracking of the consignments from their port of departure by a special operations unit of the NDLEA, which worked in partnership with the Port Harcourt Ports Command of the anti-drug agency and other security agencies, including the Nigeria Customs Service for a 100 per cent joint examination of the targeted containers.

Babafemi stated that at the end of the joint examination of the six containers, a total of 6,125 cartons containing 1,050,000 bottles of codeine syrup weighing 157,500 kilograms were recovered on Saturday.

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He further disclosed that 40.32kg of Loud, an imported strong strain of cannabis, was on Friday, June 28, recovered from a black Toyota Tacoma truck along the Lekki-Ikoyi Road in Lagos State when the driver jumped off the vehicle after noticing that NDLEA operatives were on his trail.

Commending the anti-narcotic officers for the seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), warned drug cartels that no matter the ingenuity of their modes of trafficking, the dedicated workforce of the agency in collaboration with other stakeholders and partners will always be steps ahead to expose them and thwart their tricks.

Marwa also enjoined the NDLEA officers and their colleagues across the country to continue with the ongoing balanced approach to the drug control efforts of the agency.

The Star