Seizes 22 UK, France, Portugal passports at MMIA
Three trans-border drug traffickers were apprehended by NDLEA operatives while attempting to smuggle 48,000 tablets of 225mg Tramadol through Mubi, Adamawa State, to the Cameroon Republic, while over 1,500 kilograms of imported Loud and other illicit substances were intercepted in raids across Lagos and Edo states.
The suspects, Mohammed Hussaini, 32, Adamu Bella, 18, and Mohammed Umar, 18, were apprehended on Friday 28th January at Tsamiya Junction, Madanya Road, Mubi, Mubi North LGA, Adamawa State, with the exhibits concealed in the packets of another narcotic. When interviewed, they stated that the drugs were being transported to Bagira, a town near the Nigeria-Cameroon border, to be transferred to some Cameroonians for further distribution to Maroa in Cameroon.
This follows a similar operation in the Alaba Rago region of Lagos, where officers from the Agency’s state headquarters intercepted 1,200 parcels of imported Loud, a strong variety of cannabis believed to be smuggled into the state from a neighbouring country, weighing a total of 1,229 kg.
On Wednesday, January 26th, operatives arrested one Ibrahim Musa, 25, in Suru Alaba, Ajeromi-Ifelodun LGA, Lagos, with 18,530 pills of Tramadol, Rohypnol, Diazepam, Exol-5, and 138 bottles of Codeine.
During a regular cargo inspection at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Ikeja Lagos, operatives at the airport’s SAHCO export shed discovered a consignment of 22 international passports from six different nations stashed in a bag of Gari, among other food items.
The UK, France, and Portugal each had three passports, while Nigeria had eight, Ghana had four, and Cameroon had one. At the airport, operators also discovered 12 packages of cannabis totalling 4.95kg hidden in a carton of Golden Morn prepared for export via the SAHCO export yard.
A team of NDLEA officers arrested two suspects in Plateau state on Friday 28th January; Emeka Ezenwa, 37, and Julius Akingbe, 45, for being in possession of 126.5grams of methamphetamine concealed inside a DVD player coming from Lagos, while a raid in Kampani Zera- Wase LGA of the state on Friday led to the arrest of Fatima Sadiq, 20, who was caught with 21.3kg cannabis.
A similar raid on Friday at a prominent drug den in Bakin Kogi Ringim, Jigawa state, resulted in the recovery of 8.680kg of cannabis, Diazepam, Exol-5, and some new psychoactive substances, as well as weaponry such as knives, cutlasses, Gora sticks, catapults, and charms.
In Edo State, operatives recovered 19 bags of cannabis weighing 144.10kg from a bush along Uromi Road, Esan North East LGA, ready to be transferred to other parts of the country, while eight bags totalled 111kg were recovered from a bush at Iruekpen, Esan West LGA.
Chairman/Chief Executive of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Retd) has commended officers and men of Lagos, MMIA, Adamawa, Plateau and Edo commands of the Agency for their tenacity and vigilance. He charged them along with their colleagues across the country not to relent until the last gram of illicit drug is recovered from every part of Nigeria.
