NDLEA arrests 80-year-old grandpa, community leader’s 2 wives, seizes N16.1bn opioids

Operatives of the Lagos State Strategic Command of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) on Friday, 20th September 2024, arrested an 80-year-old grandfather, Pa Aremu Shojobi, with 14 kilogrammes of cannabis at his home in Iyana Ipaja area of the state.

In his statement, the Octogenarian claimed he has been in the business of selling illicit drugs for 25 years. He further claimed he gets his supplies from Benin Republic and sells to his customers from his residence between 7 am and 10 pm every day.

Pa Aremu Shojobi

In the same vein, NDLEA operatives in Lagos on Wednesday, 18th September raided the two homes of a community leader and Sarkin Yamma of Badagry West LCDA, Alhaji Bashir Mohammed Talba, where a total of 226kg of cannabis was recovered from his two wives and son.

Hauwa Bashir

According to a statement by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media & Advocacy, NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday, 22nd September 2024, Alhaji Talba is currently at large, however, a search of his house in Ashipa area of Seme Badagry led to the recovery of 93 compressed blocks of cannabis sativa weighing 57.6kg from his first wife, Asma’u Bashiru, age 35, and son, Sadat Bashiru, age 22, while another search of his house at Aketegbo area of Seme Badagry led to the seizure of 302 compressed blocks of cannabis weighing 168.6kg from his second wife Hauwa Bashir, age 42.

Asmau Bashiru and son, Sadat Bashiru

The Agency also intercepted a total of Twenty-Five Million (25,000,000.00) pills of tapentadol, an opioid three times stronger than tramadol and Three Hundred and Fifty Thousand (350,000) bottles of codeine-based syrup at the Tincan port complex in Lagos.

Babafemi said the seizures were made on Tuesday, 17th and Friday, 20th September, from three containers which had been on the watchlist of the Agency following processed intelligence. As a result, the NDLEA had requested for 100% joint examination of the shipments with men of the Nigeria Customs Service and other security agencies. The 25 million pills of tapentadol have an estimated street value of Thirteen Billion Seven Hundred and Twenty-Five Million Naira (N13,725,000, 000.00) while the codeine consignment has an estimated street value of Two Billion Four Hundred and Fifty Million Naira (N2,450,000,000.00), bringing the total value of the seizures to Sixteen Billion One Hundred and Seventy-Five Million Naira (N16,175,000,000.00).

The tapentadol consignment packed in 500 cartons was discovered in one of the containers on Tuesday, 17th September, while another container examined the same day contained 175,000 bottles of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine packed in 875 cartons. The third container containing 175,000 bottles of CSC cough syrup with codeine was examined on Friday 20th September.

The statement also disclosed that no less than 720 blocks of Arizona, a strain of cannabis weighing 390kg were also recovered from a Mitsubishi delivery van marked MUS 720 XH at Ojo area of Lagos on Monday, 16th September.

At the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano, NDLEA operatives on Sunday, 15th September, arrested a 38-year-old drug mule, Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony, while attempting to board a Qatar Airlines flight to Iran via Doha with 76 wraps of cocaine in his stomach. After three days of excretion observation, Okafor excreted 76 pellets of the ingested cocaine weighing 1.267kg.

Okafor Ifeanyi Anthony

In Kogi state, NDLEA officers on patrol along Okene-Lokoja-Abuja expressway on Tuesday, 17th September recovered 700,000 pills of exol-5 coming from Lagos for distribution in Kano and Kaduna, while a suspect Udemefuna Chibuike, age 23, was arrested by operatives on Friday, 20th September along Mokwa-Jebba road, Niger state, in possession of 49,000 tablets of tramadol, 20,000 tablets of diazepam, 100 ampoules of tramadol injection and 50 bottles of cough syrup with codeine.

Udemefuna Chibuike

Babafemi added further a total of 451 blocks of cannabis weighing 213kg were intercepted along Azikiwe road, Port Harcourt, Rivers state, on Wednesday, 18th September, by NDLEA officers who apprehended a suspect, Ogochukwu Paul, age 33, conveying the consignment to a notorious drug haven in Borikiri.

While operatives in Plateau state on Friday, 20th September arrested a wanted suspect Jonathan Ali Abuttur, age 46, at Agingi- Rukuba road Bassa LGA in possession of 808kg of cannabis sativa concealed in 68 bags of sugar and fertiliser, their counterparts in Kwara also nabbed Shaibu Musa with 28kg of the same psychoactive substance.

“With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities, among others, in the past week. These include WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Rayhaan Model Academy, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi state; Government Day Secondary School, Danrimi, Malumfashi LGA, Katsina state; Technical College, Ihe-Achi, Oji River LGA, Enforcementugu state; Corpus Christi College, Ilawe Ekiti, Ekiti state; fresh students of Oyo State College of Health Science and Technology, Eleyele Ibadan, Oyo state; traders at Agboju market, Festac town, Lagos and the palace of Oloola of Ilara, Oba Mutiu Adedimeji Lawal Oyede and his chiefs, at Ilara, Ogun state, among others.

“While commending the officers and men of Tincan, MAKIA, Lagos, Niger, Plateau, Rivers, Kogi, Edo and Kwara Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd) stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, are well appreciated,” the statement added.