Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have intercepted three trailer loads of opioids at Abule Ado in Amuwo Odofin LGA in Lagos.

This was announced in a statement by NDLEA. It said three suspects were arrested in connection with the seizure of 3,450,000 pills and 344,000 bottles of codeine syrup.

NDLEA said the multibillion-naira consignments were loaded into two 40ft container trucks and another 20ft truck at the AML bonded terminal, Abule-Osun, near the International Trade Fair complex.

The NDLEA director of media and advocacy said that the trucks later headed to a warehouse at Abule-Ado, where NDLEA officers eventually arrested the suspects and recovered the opioid consignments on May 9.

“Those arrested include the warehouse agent, Cosmas Obiajulu, 51; Ridwan Balogun, 25, and Banjo Tayo, 30, drivers of two of the trucks, while the third driver jumped off to escape arrest,” he said.

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives, on May 7, arrested a suspect, Nwankwo Ejike, in the Coker area of Lagos.

The anti-narcotics agency said that 100 litres of codeine syrup were recovered from him, while 60 litres of the same substance were seized from Clinton Akinye in the same area the same day.

According to him, not less than 37.5kg of marijuana concealed in a Toyota Camry car was recovered from another suspect, Adegbola Segun, 47, when the car was intercepted at the Mile 12 area of Lagos on Monday,  May 6.

Another consignment of opioids consisting of 59,106 pills of tramadol and different quantities of codeine syrup and Rohypnol was also intercepted, he said.

NDLEA said the drugs taken across the border to Garua, Cameroon, were seized by NDLEA officers on May 6 on the Mubi-Yola road, Adamawa.

“Two suspects linked to the drugs: Abubakar Auwal, 39, and  Adamu Abubakar, 25, (aka Bamanga), a trans-border trafficker who was to take the consignment from Mubi across to Cameroon, were promptly arrested.

“Meanwhile, in Edo, NDLEA operatives on Saturday,  May 11, raided the Iguiye forest in Ovia North East LGA, where a total of 11,636.185kg marijuana was destroyed on three farms, measuring 4.654474 hectares,” the statement disclosed.

It said an additional 188kg of the same psychoactive substance was recovered, and a suspect, Itah Nyong, was arrested during the overnight operation.

In a related development, a 75-year-old man, Jibril Audu, on Friday was apprehended allegedly in possession of 7.5 kilograms of marijuana at Oke-asa village,  Ijero-Ekiti, during a sting operation.

Similarly, another suspect, Tikwase Nytor, 70, was also nabbed with 15.6kg of marijuana on Thursday. Mr Nytor was arrested during a raid at Achusa and International Market Road, Makurdi, Benue.

(NAN)