The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested scores of suspects and recovered illicit drugs across the country.

In a statement on Sunday, the agency said it recovered 966,200 tablets of Tramadol 225mg worth over N1.1 billion concealed among thrift trousers in a 21-carton consignment from Pakistan, and 57.80kg of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, worth over N173 million in street value, hidden inside cartons of disposable hand gloves in a shipment from Singapore at the Lagos airport.

According to the NDLEA, the recovery came weeks after its operatives, customs and other security agencies conducted a joint examination on Thursday.

“In one of the week’s most brazen discoveries, a 20,000-litre fuel tanker marked MKA 960 XC, and notorious for evading arrest in the past, was chased down by NDLEA officers along the Akoko/Lokoja expressway in Ondo State on Friday, 4th September, after its driver refused to stop,” the agency noted.

It explained that the driver later abandoned the vehicle at a church premises in Ugbe Akoko and fled into the bush, noting that a search of the tanker revealed a false compartment concealing 165 bags of cannabis weighing 2,145kg alongside its legitimate fuel cargo destined for Jos, Plateau State.

The NDLEA further disclosed that barely a month after three suspects: Yashim Dauji, Larry Ifeanyi, and Joseph Moji were arrested at Tincan Port in Lagos over the seizure of 842.54kg of cannabis-laced cookies, “another 598.08kg (890 packets) of similarly infused cookies and gummies were on Wednesday 2nd September intercepted in a 40-foot container at the port and linked to the suspects already in custody”.

According to the agency, its operatives recovered 864,000 pills of opioids, especially tramadol, from a residence linked to a fleeing suspect, Patrick KC Frank, whose Honda Civic car rammed an NDLEA patrol vehicle before he escaped.

“In another interdiction operation in Michika area of the state, a major methamphetamine supplier from Lagos to Mubi and Michika axis, Calistus Ebubechukwu, 35, was arrested on Friday 4th September with a total of 2kg of the dangerous substance, while Attahiru Hussaini was intercepted with 750,027,530 pills of tramadol and other opioids concealed in a soap-laden Ford Galaxy bus marked JJM-953XD at Namtari check point in Mubi on Monday 31st August,” the NDLEA said.

While noting that three suspects: Saidu Mustapha, 35; Zaharadeen Salisu, 29; and AbdulSalam Abdullahi, 25, were nabbed with 636kg of cannabis concealed in chicken manure aboard a bus travelling from Owo, Ondo state to Jos, Plateau state along Okene/Lokoja highway in Kogi state, the agency said Kelechi Unachukwu, was arrested with with a cocktail of over 109kg of tramadol, diazepam, pentazocine, phenobarbital, exol-5, nitrazepam, bromazepam and pregabalin in Taraba.

Arrests and recovery of illicit drugs were also made in Kaduna and Ekiti states.

NDLEA chairman Mohamed Marwa commended all the officers for their efforts, urging them to continue the agency’s current balanced approach to drug control.

Mr Marwa added that the agency continues to track down traffickers who believe they can reinvent themselves under new identities or legitimate business fronts.