…as NDLEA intercepts N9bn worth opioids in Rivers, recovers large consignments of illicit drugs in Ikorodu warehouse, commercial bus in Taraba
A 41-year-old Canadian woman, Adrienne Munju, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, for importing a large consignment of ‘Canadian Loud’, a strong strain of synthetic cannabis (hard drug).
The suspect was arrested during the inward clearance of passengers on a KLM airline flight from Canada at terminal 1 of the Lagos airport on Thursday, 3rd October 2024. During a joint examination of her three bags, Adrienne, who was coming to Nigeria for the first time, was found with 74 parcels of the illicit substance weighing 35.20 kilogrammes stuffed in two of her three bags.
In her statement, she claimed she was recruited to traffic the consignment through an online platform for 10,000 Canadian dollars upon successful delivery in Lagos. She said she took the offer because she needed the money to pay for her ongoing master’s degree programme in Canada.
In the same vein, NDLEA operatives at the Port Harcourt Ports, Onne, Rivers state have intercepted Thirteen Million Two Hundred and Ninety Eight Thousand (13,298,000) pills of opioids including Tramadol, Tramaking Quick Action Tramadol, Tamol-X, Royal Tapentadol and Carisoprodol as well as Three Hundred and Thirty Eight Thousand Two Hundred and Fifty Three (338, 253) bottles of codeine based cough syrup, all worth over Nine Billion Seventeen Million Seven Hundred and Seventy One Thousand Naira (N9,017, 771,000) in street value.
The opioids were recovered in three containers coming from India, targeted by the NDLEA during a 100% joint examination of the cargoes with men of the Nigerian Customs and other port stakeholders on Wednesday, 2nd and Thursday, 3rd October 2024.
Similarly, NDLEA operatives at the Tincan seaport in Lagos on Thursday, 3rd October, intercepted 100 parcels of Canadian Loud weighing 50kg. The consignment was packed in 20 parcels each in five jumbo bags concealed in a container with four units of imported vehicles that came from Canada. Though the container had earlier been cleared out of the ESS Libra Bonded Terminal in Ikorodu but based on credible intelligence, NDLEA operatives were able to trace it to a warehouse in Ikorodu where the illicit consignments were discovered in one of the imported vehicles, a Toyota Sienna bus. A suspect, Abubakar Shuaibu Ibrahim has already been taken into custody in connection with the seizure.
In Taraba, NDLEA officers on Thursday, 3rd October intercepted a commercial bus marked JAL 198 YQ coming from Onitsha, Anambra state to Jalingo. Large quantities of opioids, tramadol, Rohypnol and codeine-based syrup concealed in body compartments of the vehicle were recovered when it was searched, while two suspects, Pako Thomas and Emmanuel Anyigor, were arrested. Another suspect, Chibuzor Okafor, was arrested at Wukari on Wednesday, 2nd October, with 80 blocks of cannabis weighing 38kg hidden in bags of garri.
In Lagos, suspect Bolanle Ajenifuja was on Friday, 4th October arrested at Afo – the Media area of Ojo where 700 litres of scrunchies, a mixture of local Chapman and cocktail of illicit drugs were recovered from her, while three suspects: Ezekiel Akpele; Elijah Michael; and Goddard John, were nabbed same day when NDLEA operatives raided two cannabis farms located at bridge camp, a boundary community between Edo and Ondo states. Not less than 9,966.332kg of the substance was destroyed on over three hectares of farmland with 48kg of the already processed psychoactive substance recovered.
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 Government Science Secondary School, Musawa, Katsina; students and teachers of Akanu Ibiam Memorial Seminary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; students and staff of Community High School, Ile Ogbo, Osun, and students of Dominion Secondary School, Okon, Akwa Ibom state, among others.
While commending the officers and men of MMIA, Tincan, PHPC, Lagos, Edo, and Taraba 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.