The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted 1.63 million pills of Tramadol 250mg concealed in two trailers heading to Kano State, uncovering what it described as a transnational drug trafficking syndicate operating along the Togo–Benin Republic–Nigeria corridor.
The latest operation comes barely a week after the agency recovered 558,900 tramadol pills hidden in another truck that entered Lagos through the same route.
According to a statement issued on Sunday by the NDLEA’s Director of Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, the first trailer, carrying 853,000 pills of Tramadol 250mg, was intercepted on July 2 along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway after operatives tracked the vehicle en route to Kano.
The drugs were hidden inside a specially fabricated compartment beneath the truck’s cargo floor. The 22-year-old driver, Jabir Kabiru, was arrested.
Two days later, on July 4, NDLEA operatives intercepted another trailer on the same route and recovered 777,000 pills of Tramadol 250mg, also concealed beneath the cargo floor. The driver, Muhammed Nuhu, 22, was taken into custody.
Investigations, the agency said, revealed that the three intercepted consignments recovered on June 21, July 2 and July 4 were linked to the same cross-border drug trafficking syndicate transporting illicit drugs through Togo and the Benin Republic into Nigeria.
Canadian Cannabis Seized at Lagos Airport
In a separate operation, NDLEA officers at the import shed of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, intercepted two consignments of Canadian Loud, a highly potent strain of cannabis, weighing a combined 4.7 kilogrammes.
The shipments arrived from Canada aboard British Airways and Ethiopian Airlines flights on June 24 and July 3, concealed inside cartons labelled “Odugwu.”
The agency arrested two cargo agents, Ali Rotimi Samson and Orimolade Oluwagbenga, in connection with the shipments.
Another suspect, Edeh Onyeamachi Stanislus, was apprehended after allegedly arriving at a logistics company to collect the consignments.
Further investigations led to the arrest of Chioma Mokeme, a 44-year-old businesswoman, on July 7 in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Area C Command in Surulere, Lagos.
According to the NDLEA, Mokeme claimed she was involved in the printing business but confessed that a Canada-based associate, Agbons Collins, introduced her to the illicit drug trade.
Elderly Man, Couple Arrested in Fresh Drug Raids
In Rivers State, NDLEA operatives arrested 80-year-old Chika Ugwoji in Ahoada on July 14 after allegedly recovering 800 grammes of skunk, a potent strain of cannabis, from him.
In Edo State, a couple identified as Christian Chukwuka, 32, and Nwanneka Christian, 33, were arrested during a raid on an alleged drug warehouse along Sapele Road in Benin City.
The operation resulted in the seizure of 22 bags of cannabis sativa weighing 219.5 kilogrammes, alongside compressed blocks of Canadian Loud with a total weight of 192.67 kilogrammes.
Suspects Linked to Kogi Tramadol Seizure Arrested
The NDLEA also arrested Hajara Abdullahi, a 38-year-old Chadian national, and her alleged Nigerian accomplice, Abdulkarim Jidda, 44, in Lagos.
Their arrest followed the seizure of 50,000 pills of Tramadol 225mg in Kogi State on July 12.
Investigators traced the consignment to the two suspects, who were later apprehended in the Apapa area of Lagos.
Marwa Commends Officers
Beyond enforcement operations, the NDLEA said its War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign continues nationwide through sensitisation programmes in schools aimed at discouraging substance abuse among young people.
NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (retd.), commended officers of the MMIA, Lagos, Rivers, Edo and Kogi Commands for the successful operations.
He said the arrests and seizures demonstrated the agency’s commitment to dismantling drug trafficking networks across Nigeria and urged personnel to sustain intelligence-driven operations to combat the menace of illicit drug trafficking and abuse.
