NDLEA Raids Tramadol Cartel, Seizes Over N5bn Drugs In Warehouse …Uncovers Skuchies Lab, Arrests Physically Challenged Drug Dealer

The operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have raided another Tramadol cartel and seized millions of opioids pills and bottles worth over N5billion from their warehouse in the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos State.
The NDLEA operatives also arrested two of the kingpins.
This was disclosed via a statement issued, yesterday, by the spokesperson of the anti-drug agency, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi noted that NDLEA officers, last Tuesday, intercepted an imported consignment of Loud, a strong variant of cannabis, weighing 4, 878.72kilogrammes along Awolowo Road in the Ikoyi area of Lagos.
He stated that anti-narcotics officers, after a near-fatal encounter with some suspected fake security agents escorting the drugs, succeeded in recovering the consignment with a white truck marked BDG 548 XX conveying it.
According to him, this was followed by the seizure of 121,630 pills of pharmaceutical opioids and some quantity of Molly from a dealer, Charles Okeke, last Wednesday, at the Idumota area of Lagos Island.
Babafemi disclosed that the NDLEA operatives, last Friday, tracked and located a major warehouse for pharmaceutical opioids at #17, Sir Ben Onyeka Street, off Ago Palace way in the Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, noting that the owner of the store, Aloysius Okeke, was arrested.
The NDLEA spokesperson said the illicit drugs recovered from the warehouse, include 3,264,630 pills of tramadol; 3,490 bottles of codeine, and 915,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.
He stated that the recovery came on the heels of the arrest of a suspect, Olarenwaju Lawal Wahab, who distributed for the cartel the same day.
Babafemi revealed that the items recovered from the suspect’s white Mercedes distribution bus were 14,690 bottles of codeine-based syrup; 402,500 tablets of Tramadol 250mg; 50,000 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, and 210,000 capsules of pregabalin 300mg.
Similarly, operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have discovered and dismantled a clandestine laboratory on the outskirts of Sagamu in Ogun State where skuchies, a highly potent psychoactive substance made with a blend of Cannabis Sativa, Tramadol, Rohypnol, Exol-5, and industrial codeine, was being produced in large quantity and distributed in jerry cans and bottles.
All the equipment for the production, including power generators, industrial gas cylinders, drums and kegs as well as various quantities of illicit drugs such as 214kgs cannabis, 1,440 capsules of tramadol; 480 tablets of swinol, 1,440 tablets of Rohypnol, and 114 litres of industrial codeine, among others, were also recovered from the building by the NDLEA officers before sealing off the premises, last Saturday.
This was disclosed via a statement, yesterday by the NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi.
Babafemi added that a notorious 40-year-old drug dealer, who is physically challenged, Abiodun Emaria, was arrested, last Saturday, with 6.2kgs of cannabis at his hideout in Ohada village, Uhunmonde Local Government Area of Edo State.
Babafemi revealed that the operatives of the anti-drug agency, last Thursday, raided the notorious Tora Bora hills in Abuja, and recovered 350.7kgs of skunk and 794 bottles of codeine hidden under rocks.
He noted that 756kgs of Cannabis Sativa were recovered also at Dawo village, Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State, and transferred to the agency, last Friday by the troops of the Nigerian Army in conjunction with Hunters group, based on intelligence from the state command of the NDLEA.
He stated that the NDLEA operatives stormed Alayere in Akure North LGA of Ondo State and arrested a suspect, Sunday Make, with 275kgs of Cannabis Sativa and Seeds, adding that a total of 272kgs of C/S were recovered from two suspects, Nwele Friday, aged 35, and 47-year-old Egbe Nnaemeka, at Ifo layout, Abakpa Nike, Enugu State.
The NDLEA spokesperson disclosed that 34.3kgs of cannabis were also recovered from an uncompleted building in Muduru, Mani village, Katsina State after which the owner, MurtalaIsiya, was arrested in a follow-up operation.
Speaking on the arrests and seizures, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), charged the officers of the anti-drug agency and their compatriots across the country to sustain the heat on drug cartels in Nigeria while balancing their efforts on supply reduction with drug demand reduction activities.