The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted two containers of imported opioids with a street value of N4.3 billion at the Port Harcourt Ports complex, Onne, Rivers and Tincan, Lagos State.

NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi stated this in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.

Mr Babafemi said the drugs were intercepted on Thursday, November 21,  during a joint examination with men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other security agencies.

He gave a breakdown of the seizures as 168,000 bottles of codeine-based syrup worth N1.1 billion in street value, recovered from one of the containers.

He added that the second one contained 4.5 million pills of super royal tramadol 225 milligrammes valued at N3.2 billion.

According to him, this brings the combined value of the codeine and tramadol consignments to N4.3 billion.

Mr Babafemi further said the NDLEA operatives also intercepted 92 parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis with a combined weight of 23.25 kilogrammes at the Tincan seaport in Lagos.

He said the drugs, which were seized on Friday, November 22, were concealed in two vehicles imported from Canada: a Nissan car and a GMC bus.

Mr Babafemi said the discovery was made during a joint examination of a container from Canada by NDLEA officers, men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and other stakeholders.

In another development, in Ekiti, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, November 17, arrested a 50-year-old physically challenged woman, Mustapha Boja, with 286 grammes of Colorado and Loud strains of cannabis at Araromi Street, Ikere-Ekiti.

Mr Babafemi said 64 kilogrammes of cannabis sativa was also recovered at Akinyele motor park, Ibadan, Oyo State, on Thursday, November 21.

“Not less than 1,200.5 kilogrammes of the same psychoactive substances were seized during raids by NDLEA officers in parts of Edo state.

“At Utese forest in Ovia North East LGA, 463.5 kilogrammes was recovered on Thursday, November 21, while 507 kilogrammes was seized at a compound in Owan village, Ovia LGA.

“This was where the duo of David Ederin, 60, and Afoje Frank, 24, were arrested on Friday, November 22.

“Another suspect, Godwin Okhoya, 40, was nabbed with 230 kilograms of the same substance at Okpuje, Owan West LGA, “he said.

“In the same vein, in Kano, four suspects, Usman Sani, 25; Abdul Mohd, 28; Bunu Ali, 27; and Umar Musa, 30, were on Tuesday, November 19, arrested by NDLEA operatives at Gadar Tamburawa, Zaria- Kano road,” he said.

Mr Babafemi said they were arrested with 100 blocks of cannabis weighing 45kg.

He said another suspect, Ayuba Umar, 55, was nabbed with 124kg of cannabis at Pengana village, Toro LGA, Bauchi State.

(NAN)