The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted various quantities of illicit substances, including Ketamine, Ecstasy and tramadol pills, concealed in sachets of coffee mix and a book parcel heading to Zambia and the United Kingdom.

NDLEA spokesperson Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that the seizures made at a courier company in Lagos on December 24 and 29 came just as the agency had taken into custody 22 Indian crew members of a merchant vessel, MV Aruna Hulya.

He said this, in which 31.5 kilogrammes of cocaine were seized by operatives at the GDNL terminal, Apapa port, Lagos, on Friday, January 2.

Mr Babafemi said those detained in connection with the discovery of the 31.5kg cocaine in hatch 3 of the ship, which originated from the Marshall Islands, included the master of the vessel and 21 other crew members.

Meanwhile, NDLEA operatives in Oyo State on Monday arrested a wanted female drug kingpin who was a major illicit drug distributor in Ibadan, the state capital.

Mr Babafemi said the 65-year-old grandmother, Fatima Ilori, popularly known as Mama Kerosine, was nabbed in an intelligence-led operation following the seizure of 238.4kg skunk, a strain of cannabis, linked to her.

“She was arrested along with another female suspect Olusanya Abosede, 35, at Onireke/Elekuro area of Ibadan,” Mr Babafemi said.

In Borno, the supply chain of illicit drugs to insurgents was further disrupted, with the arrest of two suppliers and seizure of large consignments of illicit substances.

Mr Babafemi said one of the suspects was arrested by NDLEA operatives following the interception of 9,150 ampoules of tramadol injection along the Maiduguri-Gamboru Ngala road on Friday.

He said the other suspect was nabbed with 34,000 capsules of Tramadol at the Biu market on the same day.

The NDLEA spokesman said that not less than 400kg of skunk was recovered along with a van in the Mobolaji Johnson area of Lagos onThursday, January 1, while another suspect was arrested at a motor park in Hadejia town, Jigawa on Tuesday.

Mr Babafemi said the suspect was arrested while trying to transport 260 compressed blocks of skunk weighing 140.8kg, which he procured from Taraba State to Nguru, Yobe State.

In another development, NDLEA officers in Kwara on Tuesday recovered 238.50kg of skunk from the home of a suspect in the Asadam area of Ilorin.

Mr Babafemi said 32,000 pills of tramadol and diazepam were seized from another suspect at Bode Saadu, Morro LGA, on Wednesday.

In like manner, commands and formations of the agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities, among others, in the past week.

These included WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Madrasatu Fadimatul Zahra Sabuwar Abuja Kankia, Kankia LGA, Katsina; members of Topo Youth Progressive Organisation, Topo Badagry, Lagos.

Also included were residents of the Madalla community at the Palace of Hakimi Madalla, Niger, among others.

While commending the officers and men of DOGI, Apapa, Oyo, Borno, Lagos, Kwara and Jigawa commands for the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman, retired Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa enjoined them and their colleagues across the country to intensify the ongoing drug control efforts of the agency.

(NAN)