The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted seven watchlisted containers with N9.3 billion worth of opioids and codeine-based syrup at the Port Harcourt Port Complex (PHPC) in Onne.

NDLEA spokesman Femi Babafemi said in a statement on Sunday in Abuja that the containers were positioned for joint examination by NDLEA, Nigeria Custom Service (NCS) and other security agencies.

He said the examinations were conducted between Wednesday, May 28, and Friday, May 30, during which 825,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup and tramadol worth N5.8 billion in street value were seized.

Mr Babafemi also said 5.1 million pills of opioids, especially tapentadol 225mg, worth N3.5 billion, were recovered.

“This brings the combined street value of the opioids to N9.3 billion,“ he said.

In another development, 390 compressed blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis, were recovered by the NDLEA operatives.

Mr Babafemi said the drugs, which weighed 275.300kg, were recovered from a parked Toyota Sienna vehicle marked YLA-408GG along Ngurore-Yola road, Adamawa, on Tuesday, May 27.

He said NDLEA operatives in Kwara on Saturday, May 31, arrested a notorious female drug dealer, Mutiat Abdul-Fatai, in the Oja Oba area of Ilorin.

Mr Babafemi said this was where various quantities of opioids, including tramadol, flunitrazepam and codeine-based syrup, were seized from her.

Meanwhile, he said the War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) social advocacy activities by NDLEA Commands continued across the country in the past week.

Some include the WADA sensitisation lecture delivered to students and staff of Government Day Senior Secondary School, Kwasarawa, Katsina; Corpus Christi College, Achi, Enugu; Epignosis Standard College, Onitsha, Anambra;

Others are Government Girls Secondary School, Utai, Wudil LGA, Kano, and Government Girls Secondary School, Calabar, Cross River.

Mr Babafemi quoted the NDLEA chairman, retired Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa as commending the officers and men of PHPC, Kwara, and Adamawa commands of the agency for the arrests and seizures of the past week.

Mr Marwa equally praised their counterparts in all the commands across the country for pursuing a fair balance between their drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts.

(NAN)