The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intercepted numerous consignments of illicit drugs, including cocaine, methamphetamine, and the precursor chemical ephedrine, destined for export to Europe and other destinations. These drugs were seized at Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, and through several courier companies. The shipments were bound for the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, and Cyprus.
At the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos’s Ojo area, NDLEA operatives arrested three traders—Nwudele Christopher, Chiedu Francis, and Donatus Nwojiji—on suspicion of attempting to export 52.10 kg of ephedrine. The precursor was hidden in bundles of fishing thread and packed among other items in jumbo sacks intercepted at the SAHCO export shed on January 31 and February 1. The discovery required painstaking effort by NDLEA officers and the use of sniffer dogs to uncover the complex concealment method.
On February 13, NDLEA agents at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport stopped 29‑year‑old Apeh Ogbonna as he tried to board Turkish flight TK0624 to Istanbul and onward to Cyprus. He was carrying 4.5 kg of methamphetamine concealed in false bottoms of his travel bag. Ogbonna claimed he ran a boutique business in Enugu and was traveling to Cyprus to study Business Administration.
In Lagos, operatives intercepted two cocaine consignments, each weighing 400 g, bound for the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia. The drugs were hidden in the walls of packaging cartons. Additionally, two methamphetamine consignments—500 g and 100 g—destined for New Zealand were discovered concealed within food items.
During interdiction operations across several states in the past week, NDLEA seized at least 2,684,900 pills of tramadol and other pharmaceutical opioids. In Adamawa, officers confiscated 250,000 tramadol and Exol‑5 pills and 1,800 ml of codeine hidden in a trailer’s reserve fuel tank, arresting dealer Hussaini Ibrahim (aka Bafu). In Kogi, 279,000 tramadol tablets (200 mg and 225 mg) were recovered from suspect Hammajan Suleman on the Okene‑Abuja highway on February 13. A patrol team of the Nigerian Army handed over 376 blocks of skunk (229.36 kg) and a Toyota Camry used to transport the consignment from Edo State to Kano, seized from suspect Moses Alabi in Lokoja on February 14.
Two young suspects, Christian Nnachor (23) and Chinonso Obiora (20), were arrested with 1,843,900 diazepam tablets and 300,000 Exol‑5 pills by soldiers along the Abuja‑Kaduna express road and transferred to the Kaduna State NDLEA command on February 13. Christopher Maduka (43) was seized with 10,000 ampoules of pentazocine injection on February 18 along the same highway.
In Kano, Ahmed Rabiu was caught with 89 bottles of codeine syrup in Badawa, while Amadu Musa and three others were arrested in Kofar Mata with 53 blocks of cannabis weighing 41.9 kg. In Niger State, trans‑border trafficker Abdullahi Isah was apprehended on the Jebba‑Mokwa highway with 188 blocks of skunk (107 kg) intended for the Niger Republic. On the Nguru‑Kano road in Yobe, officers recovered 24 kg of the Arizona cannabis variant and 2,000 opioid pills from Ibrahim Isiyaku.
Finally, four suspects—Usman Abubakar (a Chadian), Muhammad Ali, Ibrahim Yahaya, and Babagana Abdullahi—were arrested in connection with the seizure of 61.45 kg of cannabis and 22.1 kg of Exol‑5 in Jigawa, with follow‑up operations in Kano. The consignments had been ordered by Usman Abubakar for shipment to Chad.
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