The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts by the drug cartel to smuggle into Nigeria over 2.4 million tablets of tramadol 225mg and 250mg, weighing 2,356kgs with an estimated value of N1.4 billion through the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.

The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure via a statement issued and made available to The Star on Sunday.

Babafemi said the seizure of the drug on Friday came barely a week after about 13.5 million pills of the same opioid worth over N8.8 billion were recovered by anti- drug agency operatives from one of the mansions of a billionaire drug baron in the highbrow residential estate, Victoria Garden City, Lekki, Lagos.

“Following credible intelligence, the agency had shown interest in the consignment of 52 cartons that came into Nigeria from Karachi, Pakistan with six different airway bills via Ethiopian Airline flight, comprising seven cartons of 250mg of a brand called tamral and 45 cartons of 225mg, branded as tramaking.

“Soon after its arrival at the Lagos airport, the NDLEA called for a joint examination of the consignment with other stakeholders and after its information was confirmed by all, the 52 cartons of the seized substance which are above the recommended threshold for medical use and banned in the country, were moved to the agency’s facility,” he noted.

Babafemi added that another bid to export 15 parcels of cannabis and 600 grams of tramadol 225mg concealed in a sack of crayfish through the Lagos airport to Dubai, UAE, was equally thwarted by NDLEA operatives who seized the consignment and subsequently arrested a freight agent, Osahor Alex Ekwueme, who presented it for export.

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The NDLEA spokesperson stated that weeks after the anti-narcotic agency operatives intercepted 5.20kgs of cannabis concealed in kegs of palm oil going to Dubai at the NAHCO export shed of the airport, the mastermind of the consignment, Ifeanyi Egbuwaohia, has been arrested in the Igando area of Lagos.

“Though Ifeanyi works as a technician at Computer Village, Ikeja but beneath his known business he also works with a drug network in Dubai, where he sends illicit drugs for distribution.

“A few hours after his arrest, another consignment of 2.60kgs of the same substance sent by him for export to Dubai was also intercepted by operatives at the airport,” Babafemi disclosed.

He noted that another consignment of 1.30kgs of cannabis concealed in reconstructed engine blocks going to Dubai were also been seized at the SAHCO export shed, while two persons, Olatunji Kehinde Temiola and Osemojoye Femi Sunday, were arrested in connection to the bid.

Speaking on the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd), urged the operatives of the anti-drug agency and their compatriots across the country to remain steadfast, resolute, and unrelenting until the last gram of illicit drugs is taken away from Nigeria.

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