The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has intensified its nationwide crackdown on drug trafficking, intercepting a businesswoman allegedly attempting to smuggle 7.5 kilogrammes of cocaine to China, seizing a massive ₦12.3 billion consignment of imported cannabis at Lagos ports, and dismantling a syndicate accused of planting illicit drugs in the luggage of unsuspecting interstate passengers.
The sweeping operations, carried out across Lagos, Abuja and Anambra, also led to the arrest of three suspected transnational traffickers found with 558,900 pills of Tramadol concealed in a specially fabricated compartment of a truck.
The China-bound suspect, identified as 38-year-old Iwebema Ogechi Peace, was arrested at the departure hall of Terminal 2 of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, while preparing to board a Qatar Airways flight to Beijing.
A statement on Sunday by the spokesman of the anti-narcotics agency, Femi Babafemi said acting on intelligence, NDLEA operatives searched her checked luggage and uncovered four large parcels of cocaine weighing a combined 7.5 kilogrammes, carefully concealed in a professionally constructed false bottom of her suitcase.
According to the agency, the suspect claimed she regularly travelled to China to purchase goods for sale in Nigeria.
In what ranks among the agency’s biggest cannabis seizures this year, NDLEA operatives also intercepted 4,959 kilogrammes of Canadian Loud, a potent strain of cannabis, concealed inside a 40-foot container at the Apapa Port Complex in Lagos.
The shipment, estimated to have a street value of about N12.4 billion, was recovered during a joint examination involving the NDLEA, the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies after weeks of surveillance.
Investigators disclosed that the container, which also carried Ford and Nissan vehicles, had been under NDLEA monitoring since it departed Toronto, Canada, on April 25. It subsequently moved through Montreal, Morocco and Lagos before arriving at Apapa Port, where it was finally intercepted.
In another breakthrough, NDLEA operatives in Abuja, working alongside their counterparts in Anambra State, exposed a criminal network that allegedly plants narcotics in the luggage of unsuspecting passengers travelling on commercial buses.
The syndicate was uncovered after operatives intercepted a Sienna bus travelling from Nnewi to Abuja and recovered a package containing 467.7 grammes of suspected methamphetamine hidden inside a passenger’s bag.
The intended recipient, Gloria Peter, denied ownership of the package, prompting investigators to trace the operation back to the loading point in Nnewi. Further investigations allegedly revealed that a bus loader had secretly inserted the drug package into the woman’s luggage on the instruction of the driver, Abdurrazak Isah, who subsequently identified one of his passengers, Onyebuchi Okoye, as the owner of the illicit consignment.
Elsewhere in Lagos, NDLEA operatives arrested 57-year-old Ikechukwu Uwakwe at Iddo Motor Park while attempting to transport 209.5 kilogrammes of Scottish Loud to Enugu.
The agency also arrested two nationals of the Benin Republic—Hossou Tito Julien, 30, and Mancellim Dossou, 19—alongside Nigerian suspect Jackson ThankGod after intercepting a truck on Mile 2 Bridge. A search of the vehicle uncovered 558,900 pills of Tramadol 250mg hidden inside a fabricated compartment beneath the truck.
On the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, operatives apprehended Lucky Abonga and Osas Azamobo while transporting 118 kilogrammes of skunk concealed among legitimate goods in a truck travelling from Lagos Island to Onitsha.
In another raid in the Amukoko area of Lagos, officers arrested Helen Idiji and Rashidat Sa’adullah, recovering 28.8 kilogrammes of skunk. Investigations indicated that Helen allegedly used Rashidat’s residence as a storage point before distributing the drugs to customers.
Beyond enforcement operations, the agency said it sustained its nationwide War Against Drug Abuse (WADA) campaign with sensitisation programmes held in schools and communities across Yobe, Lagos, Kano, Kogi and Enugu states as part of efforts to reduce drug demand.
Commending officers involved in the successful operations, NDLEA Chairman and Chief Executive, Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.), praised the agency’s commands for combining aggressive drug supply reduction with sustained public enlightenment campaigns, urging them to maintain the momentum in the fight against illicit drug trafficking.
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