NDLEA Arrests Suspects in Connection with Seizure of Drugs and Opioids in Multiple States

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has made several arrests in connection with the seizure of drugs and opioids in various parts of Nigeria.

Among the suspects were three grandfathers in their 60s and a Nigerien. One suspect, known as Onyebi and under the watchlist of the NDLEA, was arrested in Lagos in connection with the seizure of 19.70kgs of cocaine on a flight that arrived at Murtala Mohammed International Airport on February 9. Onyebi claimed the consignment was handed over to him in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, but failed to disembark with it in Lagos.

After investigation, he was traced to Victory Estate, Iba, where he was arrested. A total of 52.252 kilogrammes of cocaine, methamphetamine, skunk and over 32,590 pills of opioids were seized across Lagos, Kwara, Plateau, Sokoto states in the past week.

On February 24, NDLEA operatives intercepted eight cartons of shoes coming from Los Angeles at the NAHCO import shed of the airport. The shoes were used to conceal 37 parcels of Loud variant of Cannabis with a gross weight of 20.10 kilogrammes. Abideen, a 63-year-old grandfather hired as a freight agent to clear the illicit consignment, was also arrested. Butven, 62, was nabbed with 5.5kgs skunk on February 17 in Timbol village, Langtang South Local Government Area of Plateau State, and 65-year-old Musa was arrested with a kilogramme of cannabis on February 23 in Adewole area of Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

In Lagos, NDLEA operatives attached to logistics firms recovered a total of 4.292 kilograms of psychoactive drugs, including Methamphetamine, Tramadol, Lexaton, and Swindon concealed in walls of cartons, picture frames, bathing soap packs and bedsheets, from parcels going to the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Australia. In Sokoto State, a Nigerien, Bashar, was intercepted at the Illela land border with 1.460kgs of skunk wrapped round his private part on February 21. In Kaduna, a suspect was arrested with 6,390 tablets of Tramadol 225mg, weighing 3.4kgs on February 23 on the Abuja-Kaduna expressway.