Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have recovered no fewer than 255,500 pills of tramadol and diazepam from an Italy-based suspect, Duru Josephat, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
It was gathered that Josephat concealed the drugs in two of the bags he was travelling with to Milan, Italy on an Ethiopian airline flight.
The NDLEA Spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, made the disclosure in a statement, yesterday.
Babafemi disclosed that the suspect confessed he bought the drugs in Onitsha, Anambra State, and was taking them to Italy to sell.
He noted that the NDLEA operatives also seized 75.75kgs of cannabis indica, which came from Montreal, Canada.
The spokesperson of the anti-drug agency revealed that the consignment was hidden in a container of four used vehicles with number MSCU 5336680.
He said the consignment had been traced to a suspect, Steve Adigwe, who is already in custody, and his accomplice, Cedrick Maduweke, who is still on the run.
Similarly, the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have arrested a pregnant woman, Sylvester Gloria Onome, after 800grammes of skunk were discovered in two small radio sets she was sending to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi disclosed that the pregnant woman was arrested on Monday, January 30, 2023.
He stated that the NDLEA operatives, on the same day, intercepted a consignment going to Congo Kinshasa, containing 111 bottles of body cream that were used to conceal 24.50kgs of ephedrine, a chemical precursor and active ingredient to produce methamphetamine.
He stated that the cargo was later traced to a trader at Alaba trade fair complex in the Ojo area of Lagos State, Onyekachukwu Uduekwelu, after the initial arrest of two freight agents.
The NDLEA spokesman revealed that another housewife, Okpara Chizoba Victoria, was arrested at her residence at 37 Obashola street, Ijesha area of Lagos on Friday, January 27 following the seizure of 300grammes of skunk hidden in a bag of crayfish she was sending to Dubai, UAE through a freight agent.
Babafemi added that the NDLEA operatives at the SAHCO export shed of the Lagos airport, on Thursday, January 26, intercepted a sack of new clothes going to Sierra Leone.
He said a parcel of white crystalline substance that tested positive to methamphetamine with a gross weight of 1kg, as well as 300grammes of skunk and 100grammes ecstasy (MDMA) were recovered after a thorough search of the consignment, adding that a freight agent, Mfonabasi Victor Joseph, was arrested in connection with the seizure.
Meanwhile, the operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) have foiled attempts to export large consignments of cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, and ephedrine to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Europe through various disingenuous modes of concealment by desperate drug cartels via the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos State.
The NDLEA operatives also arrested the suspects behind the bids.
Top on the list of those arrested in connection with the seizures is a Nigerian based in Athens, Greece, Iwuozor Edward Chinedu.
The NDLEA Director, Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, stated that Chinedu was debarked from an Ethiopian airline flight on Friday, February 3 after officers in the tarmac team of NDLEA intercepted two bags during a secondary check exercise at the foot of the aircraft.
He noted that when the bags were searched in the presence of Chinedu and other airport stakeholders, two big pellets wrapped with foil papers and some sprinkles of pepper were recovered from each of the two sides of one of the bags, adding that the pellets were used to construct false walls at the sides of the bag.
The NDLEA spokesman said the two parcels contained substances that tested positive to cocaine and heroin with a gross weight of 1.30kgs and 900grammes, respectively.
Babafemi noted that Chinedu, during a preliminary interview, claimed he came to Nigeria three months ago to do surgery, which he was not comfortable doing in Athens.
He stated that the suspect further claimed he was given the bag to deliver in Greece for a fee of N2 million.
While appreciating the efforts and commitment of the officers of the anti-drug agency towards ridding Nigeria of the menace of illicit drugs, the NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive Officer, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), urged them and their compatriots across the country not to relent.