The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 162,351 bottles of codeine-based syrup from two containers at the Apapa seaport in Lagos.

This is contained in a statement by NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Babafemi said NDLEA operatives made the arrest during a joint examination of two containers with men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies on October 15.

He said 7,200,000 pills of Royal 225mg Tapentadol and Carisoprodol worth over N3.6 billion in street value were recovered.

The spokesman also said they were seized from a watch-listed container from India at Port Harcourt, Port Complex, Onne, Rivers on Tuesday, October 15.

“In the same container, 780 cartons of chlorphenamine containing 15,600,000 million pills of the opioid were also recovered.

“From two other watch-listed containers equally searched at the port in Onne, a total of 337,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth over N2.3 billion were recovered from them on Tuesday, October 15, and Thursday, October 17.

“This brings the total value of the seized Tapentadol, Carisoprodol and Codeine consignments at the two seaports to over N7 billion,” he said.

Meanwhile, a 33-year-old suspect (name withheld) has been arrested along the Bauchi-Jos road with 76,600 pills of tramadol concealed in false compartments of his Toyota Sienna vehicle marked Enugu JRV 341 ZY.

Mr Babafemi said that NDLEA operatives in Ondo State on Tuesday, October 15, also arrested three suspects (names withheld) at Afo village, where 672kg of marijuana was seized from them.

“A raid at Illushi forest in Esan South East LGA, Edo state led to the destruction of 10,590.36kg cannabis spread on 4.236144 hectares of farmland,” adding two suspects (names withheld) aged 65 and 35 had been apprehended during the raid.

Also, in Lagos, NDLEA operatives on Tuesday, October 15, arrested a suspect (names withheld) with 3kg methamphetamine and 1.90kg cannabis along the Lagos–Ibadan expressway.

Mr Babafemi said 241kg of the same substance was also recovered at Gbaji, Badagry area of the state.

“A suspected meth cook (name withheld) was nabbed the same Tuesday at Abule Osun with 265 grams of methamphetamine.

“Recovered from him were different quantities of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of methamphetamine and others,” he said.

(NAN)